Shalom friends! I'm back!
For the past half week I've been helping harvest olives at Kibbutz Gezer in the Shefela, in central Israel!
Here you see me "combing" the olives off the branch with a big comb.
Or maybe it's more like a plastic rake. Or a mega back-scratcher.
First you spread a long long tarp under the trees.
After raking, shaking, or beating the olives off the branches you get them all into one pile, pick out any little twigs, and then push and pour them into plastic crates.
That's Danny, the nice kibbutznik in charge of the harvest.
Young Israeli Mickey made a good healthy field breakfast.
We worked from 6:50 until 1:00.
Nice volunteers from USA and Singapore.
Did you know we have WWOOF in Israel?!
A good time was had by all!
Yesterday we drove our olives to the olive press to see how the oil is made.
Pictures to follow!
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You can find WWOOF ISRAEL on Facebook too!
ReplyDeletewhat fun! i would love to make olive oil!
ReplyDeleteYou are good! I did this once, for at least ten minutes, then I quit...
ReplyDeleteAnd until now I had no idea about the harvesting process. Terrific shots, Dina.
ReplyDeleteahhh this reminds me of my Gap Year in Israel in 1966. Nowadays NOTHING gets me out of bed before 8 AM, so consider what we did back then:
ReplyDelete-awake at 6 AM
-tractor to orchards, 6.15 AM
-picked fruit from 6.30 AM - 12.30 PM
-tractor back for lunch 1 PM
oh to be young and fit again :)
I would love to volunteer in a kibbutz! I'll have to look into this. I am sure it was hard work but also very rewarding.
ReplyDeleteWhat an enjoyable post, Dina! I so loved every bit of this. Shabbat Shalom, Honey
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3
Good friends make jobs go by fast.
ReplyDeleteWonderful group activity. I too felt like joining.
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Great pictures Dina. This I would really like to do some day. I have to quit my job first.. I love olive and olive oil
ReplyDeleteYou look quite happy harvesting those olives. Did you get to go home with some of the olive oil when all was said and done?
ReplyDeleteDina! Such wonderful pictures. Such a wonderful experience. I loved having you visit me at Kibbutz Gezer...It made my walk down memory lane absolutely perfect! I'm home now, and I must say that seeing you, seeing Israel, seeing what has changed and what has stayed the same...if I could, I'd be on the next plane back to the Kibbutz! There will definitely NOT be another 46 years between visits!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Nice reportage, Dina, you had a good time!
ReplyDeleteThe WWOOF project is a good thing for both parties.
Looks great! Good luck this time
ReplyDelete