gironaJ

 
Tags


Filed under

harvest

 
August 23, 2009

Harvest updates from Girona

Summer is almost over and yet some people have been busier than ever; my 90 year old friend Lluis is one of them. First he was busy sorting and platting the onions and garlic and now he is working on this years hazelnut harvest by hand of course.

All of these products come from either his veggie garden or the woods he has near the village of La Pera which is where he has lived all his life. The tomatoes were late but tasty although not particularly abundant and the onions were bigger because of the wet winter/spring we had.
Next will be the beans which are dried and stored for the winter in his cellar along with the potatoes and soon it will be grape harvest and the new wine will go into the casks to keep them jolly through the winter months.
When you ask about the weather he tells you how much colder and wetter it used to be 30 or 40 years back when they had a river at the bottom of the village where they could swim and fish which is now just a dry ditch. There was occasional snow and it froze every night from December to February contrasted to now when even bougainvillea survive in sheltered spots and they die when it gets close to zero.
Like in many agricultural areas the end of summer is celebrated with a harvest festival to give thanks for the bountiful (or not depending on the year) crops and to prepare for the shorter, colder days ahead.
Living in complete harmony with the seasons is amazing, there is always something important to do whose benefit you will not see for several months but on which your life could depend before the arrival of modern logistics to supply shops in even the remotest villages, or transport to reach them.
Sion, Lluis' wife still gets a thrill when she hears the horn announcing the fishmonger who comes through their village twice a week, she still thinks it a real luxury to eat fresh as opposed to salted fish.
Talking with them makes you realise how much us city dwelling folk take for granted every time we go food shopping!
The first picture is of an old traditional food served in Camprodon called "garru", boiled ham on the ubiquitous toasted bread with olive oil and tomato rubbed in with optional garlic. A great way to start the day!

         
Click here to download:
Harvest_updates_from_Girona.zip (8338 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   Camprodon   climate change   festival   garru   grape harvest   harvest   hazelnuts   La Pera   tomatoes  

Comments [0]

November 20, 2008

Olive harvest in Girona province

Today's scene is being repeated all over Catalonia where nights are cold and days are clear and sunny allowing people to harvest their small parcels of olive trees dotted around the countryside. Like most traditional activities here, the picking of olives becomes an outing with friends and family where much chatting goes on while the trees are being stripped. The old method involves sticks, buckets and nets; the sticks to beat the branches to dislodge the ripe fruit (olives), the nets spread on the ground below to catch the falling olives and buckets to fill up and then dump in a bigger container.
The harvest for most people only takes a few days since in Girona province most trees are on small parcels bordering fields or vines and really only produce enough olive oil for a family to use the following year. Once picked then the olives are taken to one of the co-operative crushers and they can either sell their olives for cash or take the equivalent weight/quality in olive oil once pressed and bottled.
Then the eating and drinking begins either under the very trees or in some of the small villages where they have proper olive oil festivals. The main varieties found are the slightly sweet arbequina, full bodied argudell and aromatic picual as well as the imported Greek variety koroniki in some of the larger commercial estates.
Just like with grapes there are many different organoleptic qualities to appreciate in olive oil and whether they are picked slightly green or when fully ripe will affect the final colour as well as aroma and taste. My favourite is the early harvested green olive oil from the first pressing-this is delicious poured on bread with tomato rubbed on and a slice of cheese or sausage on top...

     
Click here to download:
Olive_harvest_in_Girona_provin.zip (1053 KB)

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //   arbequina   argudell   harvest   koroniki   olive oil   olives   picual  

Comments [1]