This year, our trip to Portugal coincided with the olive harvest. All around the villages, you could see and hear people gathering their olives.

We had no idea about olive harvesting. We were eager to help our friend Mark. He was in the throes of harvest. Mark speaks Portuguese and, as such, had got to know his neighbours. They offered their time and skills to help with the harvest. We soon realized that a chainsaw helped to get through the number of trees. Still, the whole process still took around five days.

Sorting through the olives in the October sunshine was a lovely, relaxing experience. The olives gave our hands moisture, and the smell of olives filled the air. Although we could not speak Portuguese, we somehow managed to work in companionship with the local people. There is a wonderful expat community in Portugal, but being capable of creating community with the locals felt especially rewarding.

After this experience, we decided to have a go at harvesting a few of our own trees. We didn’t have time to do them all, so we just collected from two. We pooled these with a friend’s olives to add to their collection.

It has been an excellent year for olives in Portugal. Next year, we plan to return at the same time. Hopefully, we will harvest all our trees and aim to get our own olive oil.