The olive growers of the Mediterranean countries have had thousands of years of experience in timing the harvest. But when should you harvest olives in Germany?
When and how should you harvest olives in Germany?
Olives in Germany can be harvested green or black, depending on the degree of ripeness and taste. Traditionally they are picked by hand or harvested using vibrating machines. For a successful harvest, there should be at least two olive trees to ensure better pollination.
Olives can be harvested green or black
With good care and lots of sun, it shouldn't be unusual if you can harvest fruit from your own olive tree in Germany. Many people believe that green and black olives are different varieties - they are just different levels of ripeness. The darker an olive is, the riper it is. You can therefore also harvest olives when they are unripe – i.e. green. Green olives contain significantly less oil than black ones and therefore also fewer calories. However, they taste bitter. In this case, the optimal harvest time depends on your personal taste. However, olives cannot be eaten fresh, but must be pickled.
Traditional olive harvest in the growing countries
Unless you own an olive grove in Tuscany, you probably won't be able to harvest much fruit from your olive tree. Olives are traditionally harvested by hand, and the riper the fruit is, the easier it is to separate it. So you can simply pick the olives from the tree. The olive farmers in the growing countries do the same thing, often knocking the fruit off the branches with rakes or sticks. The falling olives are caught by a densely meshed net. A method that seems very brutal is also widespread, but saves time in a sensible way: the farmers saw off entire fruit-bearing branches and twigs in order to release the fruit later. Since the olive trees are pruned after the harvest, the farmers do two work steps at once.
Modern harvesting methods
In many places, however, so-called shaking machines are used to briefly shake the trees. The olives then fall to the ground and are again caught by a net. The disadvantage of the otherwise more effective machines, however, is that they can only be used on flat terrain. Otherwise, they are just as gentle on the tree and fruit as harvesting by hand. Ultimately, the only decisive factor for the quality of the table olives or olive oil is the time of harvest; the olives should be ripe, but not overripe. Ripe olives that fall to the ground alone produce an inferior quality oil.
Tips & Tricks
In order to be able to pick olives yourself, you should have at least two olive trees. Although many olives are self-pollinating, significantly more fruits develop through cross-pollination.
