Munching Mexican
Our workaway guest Francisco treated us last night to a Mexican speciality of his called Enchiladas Gratinadas Verdes also known as Enchiladas Suizas, accompanied by Tortillas and an excellent dip provided by our neighbour Lisa (the founder of the recently launched online training package; Moderation Gateway). In attendance also was Ben, the well known Mosaic Artist and husband of Lisa plus their son Felix, a future star of the professional tennis circuit and fanatical participant in the wild and wonderful game of spoons, also Job our visitor from Holland who provided a much needed tennis workout for Felix. All in all an excellent evening with great food, finished off with a Rose wine panna cotta made by our resident chef Francesco. Noticed this morning , we have had interest in our Oliviotree website from as far away as Australia, Germany and even...
read moreSupermoon over Colmurano
Thanks to Job our visitor from Holland for these Photo’s of last nights astrological occurrence, taken from the home of...
read moreGoing Swimmingly
First swim of the year today at P.S. Elpidio, quite busy there and very nice it was too, we also took on board yet another workaway guy…Job from Holland, he drove here and will stay for a week to give Francisco a hand. A stop off at Punto Gelato on the way home rounded off the afternoon nicely. We really have had a wide international group of workaways so far……Australia, Scotland, New Zealand, USA, South Africa, Mexico and Holland.
read moreBon Voyage Andrew
Yesterday we said goodbye to Andrew our very talented Oliviotree web creator and workaway traveller and said welcome to our new workaway friend Francisco, he has travelled all the way from Mexico to stay with us and he seems to have brought the sunshine with him. Francesco is looking forward to learning some new cookery ideas and we expect to be searching the supermarkets any time now for ingredients we have never heard of before. Many thanks to Angie for the kind comments about the website and also for spotting the typo error....
read moreHistory Lesson
The history of Olive Tree – The origins of the cultivation of olives were found in the Middle East, and then it developed throughout the Mediterranean basin. In Syria and Palestine, mills have been found dating back to 5000 BC. In Italy, more precisely in areas around Torre a Mare (Bari) and Fasano (Brindisi) geologists found artefacts dated back to the same period confirming as in that period olives were part of the local gastronomThe cultivation of olives and the production of olive oil were generating social well-being both economically and politically.The population of the Philistines has left important remains related to the process by which they reduced the olive in paste using mortars made of stone and circular filters made with olive tree branches intertwined, used to extract and sift the oil from the paste, similar to today’s “fiscoli”. In the religious cultures and the Jewish people particularly, used the olive tree branches and the oil as symbol of peace. For example, the dove that brought the twig of olive tree to Noè, it is still today a representative of religious tradition or it was used for sanctifying and consecrating the priests and the ceremonies. Thanks to Phoenician people, the olive tree arrived to many countries facing the Mediterranean. All those coastal areas of the Mediterranean basin experienced a major economic and trade development, particularly encouraged by the possibility to cultivate olive trees and vines, which were largely requested by populations in Mesopotamia and Egypt. During the period of the Roman Empire, the cultivation of olive trees and the production of olive oil had a great development, having major improvements in cultivation practices, and the exchange and sale of olive oil was in a kind of stock exchange called “ark oil.” This suggests that the olive oil was considered “green gold”. The olive oil was transported in goat-skins or terracotta amphorae, by sea or land as documenting findings made throughout the Mediterranean. With the fall of Roman Empire and the arrival of barbaric populations, the Mediterranean agriculture and olive trees in particular suffered severe damage and nearly disappeared, giving place to forests and uncultivated lands. In the Middle Ages olive oil became rare and precious, however, thanks to the monasteries and convents, the olive trees where once again reintroduced and grown in large extensions. At the end of “Medieval”, Olive oil reached again the high levels of production. Ships laden with oil departed from growing areas, (centre-south) of Italy and the Mediterranean countries, and delivered to the North of Europe. Between the 1600s and 1700s, during the Spanish domination, a deputy in Southern Spain was ordered to enlarge the roads that connect Naples, Puglia and Calabria to facilitate the transportation of olive oil. Nowadays, the Italian Olive has undergone major developments both qualitatively and quantitatively. They changed systems and forms of plant cultivation. They were replaced with productive varieties that were more successful, with graft techniques and the integration of plants more suitable to market requirements. The time of collection begins in early November and lasts until the end of January, beginning of February, depending on the region Today, the olive tree has spread throughout the Mediterranean basin and in most regions of Italy. In the world, there are about 800 million olives trees of which 90% are...
read moreSummer has arrived
Well it looks like summer has finally arrived and hopefully the grass has slowed down a bit, we have sent a message to our neighbour Maurizio who has one of those brilliant little orange caterpillar tractors that everybody round here seems to have. Its time for the Olive grove to have its annual haircut, all the wild orchids have gone now and with our Adopt an Olive tree scheme hotting up the grove needs to look its best for the summer. We are also now appreciating the huge improvement in the views from the house since we demolished our lovely old barn a few weeks ago…with the help of Ken, a chainsaw, a long rope and a Ford Focus tractor !! It seems that only me and Pongo will miss it, he chased many a frightened little mouse out of there. ...
read moreGot a Cough
Again nothing to do with Adopting an Olive tree but for a long time i have had a cough, and i mean a long time, been to the doctors, had x rays and all sorts of tests.. found nothing, still had cough. One day i was talking to a friend from San Ginesio who also had the same problem, she said someone had suggested a herb called Marshmallow Root (nothing to do with the fluffy sweets you roast over campfires), the latin name is Althaea, she got some took it in the form of a tea for a while and the cough went. So i tried it for a couple of weeks, one cup a day……amazing, a cough i had for over 3 years has now...
read morePercy (Parcifal)
Just a quickie for all you dog lovers out there, i know we are trying to get people to adopt an olive tree but we seem to have been adopted by a new friend for Pongo, his name is Parcifal or my version…Percy, he is a beautiful white Husky type that belongs to our friends who live at the top of the hill above us. He must have some sort of infatuation with Pongo as he is here every day now, we take him home, he comes back, his owners come for him, he comes back, any suggestions...
read moreBGT
Nothing to do with Olive trees but managed to watch the final of BGT last night on the laptop, or should i say from the laptop on the tv…thanks Andrew. So the very talented Attraction beat the also very talented Jack Carroll, a bit amazed that the British public chose a Hungarian act in preference to a superb disabled British act, not so sure that would have happened in Italy or in any other european country. Perhaps Terry Wogan leaving the Eurovision has changed peoples voting principles. Still havn’t got my head round non british residents being able to enter Britains got talent….perhaps Simon will read this and explain. Anyway, if i had been in the uk i would have voted for you Jack….your still a...
read moreRoad to Colmurano
Just for those who have been doing the detour for the last couple of months, they have started repairing the road just above us that collapsed .
read moreAccommodation
For a luxurious self-catering holiday see The Hideaway website.For a peaceful bed and breakfast stay with a magnificent view have a look at Casale delle Rondini.
Why not combine a visit to your olive tree with a fantastic wine tour in Umbria?Explore the Gusto website.
List Italy is a comprehensive guide to services, businesses, properties and food in the Le Marche region of Italy.
More info on their website.
For some fantastic mosaic handcrafted art vist Ben Craven Mosaics.