Sunny Sundays on Kefalonia

This weekend we had the opportunity to join the owners of the Liocharis olive press for a masterclass on how to nurture old and dying olive trees back into production.

The grove we were learning on had been left untended for the best part of a decade. In that time the trees had grown tall, wide and crowded; fighting for space. Olive trees thrive in sunlight- in fact most varieties need over 4000 hours of direct sunlight every year to happily do their thing. Eventually the root system cannot support the weight of the branches and all this growth; and they begin to crack and tear off leaving wounds for water to ingress and fungus to begin to grow.

So, to keep the trees airy and healthy, a good prune is just the ticket. We began with observing Dionyisios expertly removing all dead wood and “apron” branches whilst shielding our eyes from the glinting Ionian sea. The next step was to thin out the water shoots which project from the boughs up into the canopy. These rarely produce fruit but what they can be useful for is creating shade for the trunck which ironically loves a bit of dappled shade to protect it from the unforgivingly baking summer sun.

The team here leave the final shaping of the tree until the spring, so the wood is processed and of course the olives are harvested. The more neglected the trees, the closer they get to popping their clogs and the longer the time span between fruiting years. They only have the energy to put into olive growth every five years instead of the usual two. Masterful encouragement with artful pruning skills passed down through the generations will bring these trees back to health and tasty olive oil before you know it.

The skeleton, or the scaffold of the tree creates the framework for the foliage to grow. An upside down umbrella, or wine glass shape is the winner. Anything too wide, too high, too low, or too crowded, gets a critical eye to assess for the chop. Some of the older trees we have on our land have been left for more like 15 years, and obviously have their toes in water so have shot up to staggering heights. They will need to be brought down in stages over a few years so as not to shock the tree with such a drastic haircut.

Olive trees are forgiving but its better to leave them with at least some leaves to respire and photosynthesise with, as well as act as mini parasols. Having shorter trees makes them far more manageable when it comes to picking and having more air moving around them; room for a bird to fly through the middle, as they say, is what you are looking for. We now feel more confident to provide the TLC these trees are craving.

Here’s to learning from the best