Posted by Bob on Jul 7, 2013 | 0 comments

Pruning Olive trees by Brian Chatterton From The Mediterranean Garden No 34 July 2003 Art or science? Most books written on olives in English describe pruning as a mystery buried deep in ancient folklore. There are exceptions such as Gucci and Cantini and our own book, but the majority have failed to understand the basic principles. Books in Italian (for example Del Fabro) are more practical and less mystical. A good pruner of olive trees can be compared to an artist where talent and technique are moulded together. The fact that a great artist may be a poor teacher of perspective should not disguise the fact that perspective is a technique that can be learnt. Similarly with olives. The techniques can be learned (the master pruner may not be the best teacher) and a reasonably competent job done. Why prune? Most readers will have only a few trees or perhaps a small grove and will pick their olives by hand or use simple hand-held machines to speed up the task. In either case a good density of fruit on each branch is required for productive picking. An unpruned tree will have olives scattered in groups of one or two all over an untidy bush. Such trees are costly and frustrating to pick. Even if you are picking with your own labour and the unpaid help of friends, efficient picking is important. Slow work is most disheartening. A primary objective of pruning is to produce dense clusters that can be stripped off the tree in great showers. It is inevitable that ladders will be needed for mature trees but good pruning will prevent the trees becoming excessively tall and difficult to pick. In the early days of the New Zealand olive industry when pruning was rudimentary, one grower ended up employing the local fire brigade to pick his tall trees. There has been considerable scientific research conducted on every aspect of olive growing and oil production. One of the important facts to emerge is that the olive fruit requires strong sunlight at every stage from fruit set to oil production. Olive flowers that are in deep shade will not set in large numbers. Those that do will not produce good levels of oil. Pruning is therefore needed to reduce the density of the foliage and allow sunlight to penetrate into every part of the olive tree. Our pruning teacher from the University of Perugia suggested that every olive should be in direct sunlight for at least some part of the day. This objective is compatible with the need to produce trees that are convenient to pick. By reducing the density of the foliage one reduces the tendency of the tree to race up and out in a desperate search for more light. Alternate cropping. Olives are not the only tree crop to produce alternate heavy and light crops. Apples are...

Posted by Bob on Jul 6, 2013 | 0 comments

Don’t forget, if you are in the vicinity of Civitanova this evening, pop into the gallery and take a look at Ben and Michaels exhibition of Mosaics, Sculptures and Paintings. See my previous blog for the address. I welcome the opportunity to promote not only ex pat talent but more importantly local talent, it is easy sometimes to think that all the artists live in the big cities not just up the road in the countryside. These local artists don’t get the recognition they deserve and we should all support them when we can. Take a look at Ben’s website to give you an idea of what to expect...

Posted by Bob on Jul 3, 2013 | 0 comments

What’s going on this year ? There seems to be snakes around every corner, a couple of days ago a massive grass snake was sunning itself at the back of the house on a pile of  stones, there for two days in a row until Pongo spotted him. Yesterday i lifted a large stone on the recently cut bank (thank you Job and Fran), and nearly died uncovering a nest of vipers ( no i don’t mean the cast of eastenders), and today not far away from the same place  yet another metre long grass snake lying motionless on the grass, until Pongo spotted him that is. Am i getting more than normal or what ? love to know if anybody else is getting more than they usually do...

Posted by Bob on Jul 1, 2013 | 0 comments

If you are in Civitanova this Saturday (6th July) why not visit the Permariemonti contemporary art gallery at  Viale Vittorio  Veneto  53 – 62012 tel/fax 0733.774115. Starting at 18.00 the Exhibition features some amazing Mosaics, sculptures  and works of art by local artists Ben Craven and Michael Eldridge...

Posted by Bob on Jul 1, 2013 | 1 comment

It was without doubt the major social gathering of the month in Le Marche, the birthday party for Felix…the future tennis superstar. Fans from far and wide arrived laden with  tennis related gifts to try and satisfy the appetite of the ever eager sporting fanatic. It was then that they arrived, the recently renamed Bonnie and Clyde (AKA Pongo and Percy), after re-enacting that movie classic (The Great Escape) , they appeared as if by magic in the midst of the partygoers, clearly out of breath but looking very pleased with themselves . Panic ensued for a time but a crisis was avoided when they were successfully  rounded up and detained in the temporary detainment area that was quickly set up. We have at this time been unable to locate the secret excavations used to  enable their escape and detailed searches are continuing. Focus quickly returned to the host participating in exhibition matches on the immaculate rear lawn and the unveiling of not only a tennis racquet  culinary masterpiece but also a mountain of doughnuts that required some degree of mountaineering expertise by Felix to extinguish  the attached display of pyrotechnics (AKA Candles). The lovingly tended BBQ by masterchef  Ben Ja Min (brieflybreaking away from his forthcoming tour of India) provided both excellent salsiccia panini’s (AKA Hot Dogs) and some heating for those who ventured into the pool. The event was also an opportunity to say farewell to our hardworking Workawayer Job who travelled from the Netherlands to give our Adopt an Olive Tree grove some very much appreciated cosmetics. He followed Francisco our Mexican visitor  who partnered him on many of his projects. We wish them both  all the best for the rest of their journeys (Francisco to Slovenia, Job to Sardinia) and say thanks again for the fantastic work they completed for us. We look  forward to tomorrow  when Maurizio will arrive with his little orange tractor to give the Oliviotree grove grass its annual trim....