October/November is the perfect time to catch some olive picking in Israel.
You’ll find fields of olives throughout the country, and while times of harvest may differ slightly, they almost always use the same picking by hand methods. Groups of local Arab villagers, often accompanied by little children and even babies, pick their way through a field of olive trees unbelievably fast, and before you know it, they’ve wrapped up their sheets (placed under each tree to collect all the falling olives) and have moved on to the next field…
If you’d like to pick some olives yourself, check out any local kibbutzim or moshavs when out of the city areas (though some cities often have a few olive trees lining the streets and you are often able to pick from these). You might also strike it lucky when driving by an olive field and catch them in the middle of a picking session. If so, stop by and ask if you can watch or even help them out for a bit. Alternatively, you could try olive picking with the Alternative Tourism Group, though the cynic in us feels that $650 is a bit steep for some idealism.
Through October and November, there are a couple of festivals to watch out for, including the annual Olive Festival, and the Olive Branch Festival or Galilee Olive Oil Festival, which happens throughout the Galilee. There are a number of great little events to catch, and some very interesting attractions. Two great places to check out: Hananya Farm in the Western Galilee, and the Avtalion Oil Press, which lets you watch the olive press in action through October-January.
Frankly we’re still unsure of what the fuss is all about when it comes to olives, but most Israelis love them. And don’t be surprised when sitting down with a beer in a pub to be given a little side-dish of olives…
Anyway, here are some pics we took at the weekend from an olive field just a few meters from our house.
