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 OUR
REGULAR NEWS FEATURE FROM
SUNNY SPAIN |
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To
find a diary month from our Newsletter, just click
DIARY DAYS IN SPAIN
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November 2009
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Yes,
that’s it folks
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...its
'two
for the price of one.' |
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Or at
any rate, the content is reduced slightly in the November and
December Almeria news pages, which bring to a close 2009, as you may
notice … |
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Unfortunately a combination of problems domestic, logistic and
technical
precluded the production of a November Newsletter on time -
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thus I
am condensing November and December now...
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The
main problem was technical, as our system was down ... ...or at
best operating only intermittently during December,
but this has now been put right
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 and we
are told that the fault was caused by the Orange Telephone
Company who share the radio mast in Almeria
(they
have probably told their customers that the fault lies with
Aplinfo our provider!) |
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NOVEMBER
saw the
beginnings of the
Olive Harvest,
which
lasts through until March. |
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A
veritable hive of activity was thus created with harvesting done
by hand or with a stick to shake the branches so that the fruit
drops onto tarpaulins arranged around the tree. Large
commercial plantations can be harvested with a mechanical tree
shaker which grasps the tree trunk and shakes the whole tree
until the fruit falls to the ground. Whilst this is very much
faster the purists claim handpicked fruit is far superior and
they are probably right. |
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Locally, a walk up the
Rambla,
(riverbed) there is a line of productive olive trees that are
reputed to be 1,000 years old. The trunks are huge and four
people would be pushed to join hands around them. Whilst this
is probably a local legend the trees are definitely very old.
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VERY OLD OLIVE TREES |
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It has
always been a source of wonder to me how our ancestors
discovered the various techniques of turning the bitter olive
fruit into an edible form. *
There
are many techniques including soaking the fruit in a solution of
food grade sodium hydroxide ...
(I am
sure that was readily available during the Roman era!)
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OLIVE OIL HISTORY
and see more
at
THE FERTILE CRESCENT |
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Even a
small garden can sustain say half a dozen olive trees, and
whilst harvesting the fruit is a bit of a hassle each tree will
yield between 1½ and 2½ litres of oil per year.
If you
take your olive crop to the local co-operative you will be
rewarded with the appropriate amount of oil ( less of course 50%
for the processing) |
I am
sure there must be great satisfaction in being able to give
family and friends a bottle of your very own olive oil.
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A few
years ago our next door neighbour arranged with a Spanish family
that they would come and harvest the fruit in return for half
the oil. In due course they came, ranging in age from 8 to 80,
and proceeded to strip the olives.
Guess
who had to climb to the top of the tree to knock the highest
fruit off?
Grandma!
The old
girl must have been about 80 but she was up there knocking
olives and swaying around whilst her sons of about 50 stood
below and gave her careful instructions.
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November began with
All
Saints Day which is a National Holiday and during the
month the Government announced that from next year there will be
an extra day's Bank Holiday, which officially will be January 6th
...
but in typical Spanish fashion any region which chooses an
alternative day may do so. |
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Just to
the north of us, a site under excavation near Totana in Murcia
could be the first city ever constructed in Western Europe,
archaeologists have claimed.
La Bastida was established around
2000 BC and remained populated for 7 centuries. It is reported
that the site has been pillaged on many occasions and remains
have been recovered from museums as far a field as London and
Brussels. The team of scientists and archaeologists
participating in the dig and research is formed from several
European Universities including Cambridge and Reading. It is
hoped that guided visits will shortly be available. ('shortly'
in Spain could mean considerably l o n g e r!)
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Probably not of any great interest to the British
is the project to
farm Octopus
in Almeria. Whilst unpopular in the UK they are widely
sought after in the US, European and Far Eastern markets and
there is a thriving export market to be further developed.
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Here at home we had another visit
from a stately
Heron...
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This may not be very exciting to you ...
but there is
so little water in this region, that it really is a special treat
to be graced with their presence. |
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At the beginning of the month we had three or
four dull days ... and one of rain,
much needed although much needed although
unwelcome at the time. |
So, out came the polo necked sweaters,
socks etc as we firmly believed this to be the start of winter,
well suffice to say that within a few days we were back to
summer clothes.
 
(I have kept the socks though)
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Temperatures have generally been very comfortable
although we have begun to use the fire in the evening.
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A major event during November was the
Christening of the road outside our house as a Ruta del Campo (a
countryside route), which affords all the advantages of having
little signs every so often and er, … well thats it really.
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Despite the fact that the signs are on the “main”
road, I suspect it may be more apposite to apply them to one of
the minor roads leading off ........
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...as shown!
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Time flashes by and its difficult to remember
much more for November ...
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so let’s move on
to
December....
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Sue says
remember to click
for more in her
Spanish Garden:
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REMEMBER! To find
a DIARY MONTH from our Newsletter,
just click
DIARY DAYS IN SPAIN
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And
see more recipes at
MIKE'S TAPAS BAR |
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©
PLUS
2006