Our neighbor brought us two jars of homemade olives the other day. Many people in the village either harvest olives from their yard or own a parcel of land elsewhere in the village. My Aunts owned land with olive trees and harvested their own. They ate the olives, cooked with and made soap from the oil. Olives and Olive Oil could also be sold and provide as income. Olives are harvested once in the winter and once in the summer. Many people in the village will take off time from work to help with the harvest. Olives for eating are picked by hand sorted through to remove those that are bruised. Each olive is then sliced on three sides. They are then soaked in water for 20 days with the water being replaced each day because it becomes quite bitter. Then, the olives are rolled in salt and left for two days. The salt is brushed off and they are then soaked in vinegar for another two days. Finally, the olives are stored in containers steeped in olive oil and must remain covered with oil to remain fresh. The olives harvested here in Arfara and Kalamata (15 km away) are the olives found in a Greek Salad. We have been enjoying ours on salads and right out of the jar!

XOXO,

Karen June