Participate in the Olive Harvest and enjoy the fruits of the Umbria region, near Tuscany (Italy) - cooking and eating local foods, drinking area wines, and soaking up the rural beauty of Umbria while staying in a beautiful farmhouse just five minutes from the historic centre of Perugia. The Olive Harvest is a unique opportunity to participate in an autumnal ritual that is essential to Italy's agrarian and culinary interests.
Olive harvest in Italy: Olive oil production, as wine production, has been an important economic resource since Etruscan Times. The region of Umbria and Tuscany with its hills, grounds, and climate allow the olive trees to grow and produce superior quality olives with low acidity.
Olive Harvest in Umbria: The extra virgin olive oil from this region suits the simple genuine and delicious Umbrian gastronomy. The olive oil is obtained through a simple process of pressing chilled olives that are found in the foot hills of Umbria (Italy). The picking of these olives is undertaken entirely by hand. This Oil has an intense green colour, a soft olive fragrance and a full rich flavours. A suggested use of this oil is in the seasoning of uncooked breads, soups, vegetables, salads, meat and fish.
Recommended by www.olivepicking.com, Lonely Planet
Day 1 - ARRIVE
Day 2 - OLIVE HARVEST AND COOKING CLASS
In the morning olive harvest in the farm and lunch with typical products.
In the morning the group will have a tour in the country side around the farmhouse to see the several species of olive trees growing in the farm. Raffaella will explain you about the five D.O.P. (Protected designation of origin) zones of olive oil present in the Umbria region: each production area is characterized by a peculiar variety of olives. Oils which comes from these 5 areas are made of blends of oils extracted through cold pressing techniques. The olive picking is done by hand or through mechanical means which do not damage the olives, as prescribed by the D.O.P. regulation. Thus it is done at the beginning of the harvest, when the olive starts changing its colors and it gives the top of fruity taste and the least acidity (beginning of November). You will learn what to do in just a few minutes and as you work in a small team there will always be someone to guide you. Olive picking begins with the careful spreading of nets under the trees in order to collect the crop, you then comb or knock the olives down - easy and very satisfying to do. Often this will involve climbing a ladder in order to reach the higher branches. If you don't fancy this don't worry - there are plenty of opportunities to work from the ground and no shortage of willing volunteers to scale the heights! Olive trees are very obliging and there are plenty of branches to hang onto while you work. You can see the work of the participants in the 2011 olive harvest in the following video.
Day 3 - COOKING CLASS AND TOUR IN TREVI AND IN THE THE MILL
Day 4 - COOKING CLASS AND ASSISI TOUR
Day 5- DEPARTURE
Type of accommodation /price in euro per person
2 people
in 1 apartment
: 890.00
3 p.
in 1
: 740.00
Group 3-6 people travelling together/price per person euro
3 p.