Our first day of pretty solid rain today. It was cold too, even for Wellingtonians, and we wore just about all the warm stuff we had.
Had a fascinating visit to Mes des Barres (an olive mill in the Vallee des Baux near St Remy de Provence) where they manufacture olive oil, as well as growing the olives. It was all explained to us by Charlene, the farmers daughter, in a really cute French accent that made it much more interesting.
The farm itself could have come out of a Provence picture book.
A few tips for olive growers:
- prune out the middle of the tree to let the sun into the fruit
- water infrequently (not more than twice a month in Provence)
- don't fertilise too often as the trees do best in poor soil (once in 5 years in Provence).
Full marks to the M'boro plantation for all of those I think!
A few tips for olive oil users:
- buy it in tins as it is degraded by light
- extra virgin is best as it has the lowest acidity (< 0.5%) compared to virgin (<2%) and the rest at unknown higher levels
- drink 2 tablespoons a day and you can live to be 122 (a local woman is the proof of this apparently!)
P
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