Our Big Adventure

TUSCANY- Tavanelle in Val di Pesa and olive picking

We have signed on for a week or so of olive picking. We came across the ad on one of the home sitting sites where we are members. Not sure what to expect, you might say we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived In return, we get to stay in a fantastic, 2 storey, 2 bedroom apartment, in the most beautiful area we have seen so far on our travels. St Andrea a Cellole lies an the end of a steep and winding drive, about 20 mins from town, a 1000 year old stone house that has been painstakingly restored by Adéla and Mauro. It was originally built as a watchtower as the views of the surrounding area are unimpaired, and for over 600 years was a Catholic Church, St Andrew’s. The original cross is still high atop the main part of the house. The chapel is now Mauro’s office and it’s hard to find words to describe this room. It is approximately 10m x 4m, with a massive fireplace and the most spectacular domed glass ceiling at one end, which at one time was over the alter. A collection of Mauro’s original artwork, rubbings and collectables decorate the room, and his state of the art stereo system takes full advantage of the superb acoustics in the room. Mauro tells how during the renovation of the house, that had stood vacant for many years, bones and crucifix’s from the buried priests, that once called this place home, were discovered in what must have been their cemetery. The local tradesmen would not continue the renovations until the remains had been relocated. The property is now totally renovated, but the traditional stone walls, ceilings and floors are in the traditional Tuscan style, and in the summer, Adéla rents out ‘our’ unit as well, as two smaller ones on the other side of the house that overlook the pool and the valley below.. So if anyone is looking to rent a villa in Tuscany, I can totally recommend this one! OLIVE PICKING; We have been able to pick olives for only 2 days, out of the 6 we have spent here so far. The weather has not been kind, rain has made the ground under the trees turn muddy and un-workable There are 200 olive trees here, and on a good day the four of us can pick about 30 trees. We use a small plastic rake which we run down the branch, the olives loosen and fall to the ground where they are caught in a large ground sheet. The olives are then transferred into a crate for storage until they go to the mill. It’s important the olives stay dry or they will mildew and spoil. Keeping ourselves busy here on the rain days is not a problem, with Florence only a 25 min drive, Sienna and Pisa 1 hr away, and so many lovely little villages and wineries surrounding us, there is always somewhere to go. Mauro was taking our first picking to the mill, and seeing that we were interested in the process, asks if we would like to come along. There were a few others waiting for their oil at the mill so we had a good chance to watch. The olives are put first into a large stainless bin, with great care taken not to mix any from the previous lot. They are then washed and put through the crusher, pits and all, from there they go to the press, then the oil pours into waiting stainless 30L cans. This gives you your extra virgin olive oil. It’s a luminous green when new, and has quite a peppery, bitter taste, but keeping with tradition of the first pressing we share a small plate of this oil with crushed garlic and salt on fresh Tuscan bread. Bellisimo! We managed to get in a full day of olive picking today, the work is physical, and it would help to be part mountain goat! The sloping hillside making it tricky to find a place to stand, and you also have to make sure you don’t stand on the olives under foot. We work 4 hrs before lunch, which lasts a hour, then another good 4 before we start to pack up. Shoulders aching, arms scratched from the branches, we head to our flat, for a hot shower and a big glass of the local red. The harvest is now completed. We picked for another 3 full days, finishing with a bountiful 1,400kg.of olives, which produced 200 litres of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Adela and Mauro have been perfect hosts, with Mauro keeping us stocked with bottles of the local red, ‘Chianti’ and Della baking us a date and walnut loaf for dessert one evening, and on our final night inviting us to a wonderful traditional Tuscan meal. They have also invited us to come back in the Spring, promising to keep us busy with a few jobs around the Villa. All things going well we will probably take them up on their offer, I imagine Tuscany in the Spring would be just beautiful.

posted by Brian and Julie @ 12:00:00 AM