Grebo

We want to relocate a bit more inland than we are now, near Alicante, & have seem several properties for rent with Olive grove attached. So far one we have looked at has said they will continue to work the groves & the other has said after this harvest, it's all yours.
Now we really don't know which would be the better deal.
Also are there any pit falls in 'living amongst the Olives ' ? we should be aware of.

Thanks
Suzi

flotsum

It depends on how big the olive grove is and how much time you have to spare. You will need to consider cost of irrigation and feeding them, they are hardy but I find with a bit of TLC they produce the better crop. They do need pruning and obviously harvesting so twice a year they can be time consuming. Where we are in inland murcia they are not a good cash crop and its better to exchange for oil and sell this on, the last few years have not seen a good price for olives worldwide. However it is satisfying to use your own oil. Some people do find that the blossom brings on hayfever.

Fracman

We live inland Malaga, have some 60 Olive Trees, we have a gentlemens agreement with the neigbours, he harvests the Olives and gives us 10 litres of oil every year, has worked well for years for us.

Grebo

Thanks for the replies, we are looking at plots of between 2000 / 4000m2 So I guess not huge for harvesting ? No idea how many trees that would be.
Time may be an issue, if we are busy with work, we wont have much time for the trees. Does the harvesting & pruning need to be done over a short time period or can you do it bit wise.
All of them so far have had their own well supply, so water should be OK, don't know about the feeding though ? Do you put that in the water ?
Gentleman's agreement could be possible on at least one that we have seem.
Could be the way to go.

Good point on the hay fever, I find orange blossom irritating need to find out about olives.

Suzi

flotsum

on my1000 m2 plot I have 40 trees, my second plot I have mixed olive and fruit.
In total I have 66 olive trees and get between 490 and 1000 kg of olives per year so between 100 and 200 litres of olive oil.
I can harvest and prune mine by myself it takes me about 4 weeks to prune, its not just the pruning its the picking up and shredding of the off cuts, I do this around the kids and animals, school runs etc . The olives can be collected over 8/10 weeks it varies on the season, our depot has just opened and will remain open until Januray and we take ours in as we have harvested and just collect a new slip each time. Ideally you can feed in the water if you have an abonar just add into this once a week in the growing season, we do not have an abomar yet so I rotovate fertilizer under the trees once a year after pruning, then mulch with my shredded prunings. Remember you will need to look after the rest of the ground, weeds etc as they can attract the wrong type of bugs and if left we have had weeds bigger than the trees.

Dick Dasterdly

One other thing to consider is the winter climate.
Even 30 kms inland and a little higher up, say 300 plus metres asl can make quite a difference to the winter temperatures, with even snow being a common occurance if you go much beyond that.
If the area you are considering is predominantly olive groves and not a lot of citrus fruit for instance, this could possibly be the case.

Grebo

Thanks Dick, thats what we are hopeing for. Looking about 600 / 700m.

Thats great info flotsum, thanks so much. So we should not go for to big a plot then As I can see it will be my job.
Sounds like it's doable then

Cheers.

Suzi

Dick Dasterdly

Eh, you are looking for cold and snow ?

I know it can be beautiful up there for much of the year but there are drawbacks, however if you are in good health and pretty fit no doubt you'll get by ok.

Best of Luck anyway,whatever you decide.

D.D.

flotsum

For winter heating I use some of my bigger olive trimmings to start the fire they make a lovely white hot bed of ash! I do let them dry out for a year first.

Dick Dasterdly

Yes, as I quickly learned and was constantly reminded in Sweden, wood is a great heating source.
It warms you up three times over, once when you saw it up, again when you carry it in and finally when you light it up.
Suppose I could make it four with the clearing of the ashes and preparing the next fire.
Must admit the novelty soon wore off with me, but there again there's nothing quite so nice as a lving fire.

megmet

Make sure before you buy that you are not allergic.
Both my husband and myself suffer very badly when the olives are in bloom, as were are surrounded by them there is no getting away from the pollen and even taking antihistamines doesn't stop us both feeling very poorly for the duration.

dunmovin

we harvest our olives and take 10 lts for ourselves. The rest we sell to our neighbour,at the same price the co-operative gives us,(he has a huge family).

The arrangement works well. We get just as much as we need, he gets the surplus. We keep the land in order and and gain a few hundrerd euros for doing it.

Grebo

We didn't come to Spain for the sun stoke
Being somewhat under retirement age, not into boozing, sunburn or soap operas. We would welcome a bit of 'weather' and a chance for some decent 'hiking' trips. We went to Sweden for a holiday in February, give you any clues Thanks for the well wishes

Thanks megmet very valid point, I will find some trees to sniff.

Suzi