It is difficult to capture the joy of community harvesting together in words. Hopefully these photos from the 2024 harvest will give you some sense of the delight. First there is the sense of ‘get-a-way’ to a place and life cycle experience that brings you closer to the land and to the people you are harvesting with. Families, friends, new acquaintances gather around the trees. Sharing stories. Harvesting olives into our buckets. We are feasted under the Grandmother Oak Tree with local foods prepared by our chef Brendan paired with wines from Condor’s Hope. In the evening we gather around the campfire to make s’mores and continue our stories.
Early the next morning Steve drives the previous day’s harvest to the olive mill in the Santa Ynez Valley where they are milled into fresh olive oil. This process, which takes less than 2 hours, yields rich, robust, highly nutritous olive oil that is ready to enjoy immediately! And we do so as we carry the memories of the harvest with us. We share great appreciation for the team that helped to organize and carry out the harvest and to all of those harvesters who put their hands to the task and shared in the harvest joy. We hope to see you next Veteran’s Day Weekend!
