Lesvos, Olive season

Lesvos is not only famous for its ouzo, but also for its olives. There are millions of olive trees on the island and nearly all olive groves are well taken care for. Most of the oil is produced not for export but for local use. The Greeks use about 50 litres of olive oil per person per year.
When the summer guests leave the island the harvest of the olives starts slowly. In October the nets will be spread under the trees. In November the islanders start picking the olives, but this gathering is only for preserved olives.
The real olive harvest starts later in December, and can last through till March. The old olives are removed from the nets and the beating can start. With long sticks they hit the branches so that the olives fall into the nets. The best quality is obtained when the olives are immediately pressed for their oil. Each region has its own press and when the presses open their doors, hundreds of sacks of olives will collect in front of the doors, waiting for their turn to be pressed.
Natura offers you the opportunity to see the olive harvest in Lesvos. You will visit an olive grove where you will be given an explanation of what is needed for a good harvest. Maybe you even want to participate in gathering the olives and fill a small bag for yourself. When the olive presses are open you can go inside and follow the procedure of the pressing. You will learn about the different qualities and what they do with the lower quality olives, how they store the different olive oils and what importance it has to the region. You can see how it is that olives are turned into golden greeny yellow oil.