Olive harvest

Once, a family’s first priority was to plant the olive tree and the second was the vineyard. Even those who had other jobs, like driving “il traino”, the carts pulled by horses, even who had olive groves – at the beginning it was hard work, in winter with only a few heated stones around the fire to keep their hands warm and thus be able to “brucare” the olives from the ground. Then due to the high quality yield – the cultivation and harvesting methods constantly innovating – the value of the olive oil grew, becoming for many a primary source of income. And then the unthinkable happened, when the Xylella almost destroyed what before, for the people of Salento, was the very symbol of immortality. And yet now the olive groves rise once again, with new plantings of tolerant varieties, because for Salento the olive tree is like life itself, like pizzica that runs in the blood, making legs and arms move even for those who think they cannot dance.