Unlike other crop species such as the grapevine, which require great, all year round care, olive trees need little or no attention during the summer and autumn months. In an anonymous book dating back to the early Eighteenth century, the author – presumably a landlord living in the Garda district – describes the work carried out in the countryside. A large part of the text is devoted to farming in the mountains, or better, on our mountain, Mount Baldo. The strong link that used to exist between the Garda farmers and the hill overlooking the lake is very obvious. July and August were devoted to haymaking, whereas September and October to harvesting the crops and gathering straw, dry grass and vegetables that had gone off, to use as fodder, bedding or manure. Only later on would the farmers check that everything was ready for the olive harvesting season, which would start in November and end in December, with the production of the oil.
And now the time has come to start getting ready.
