July 27, 2024
Cuisine, Nature, Umbria

The risks and rewards of harvest season in Italy

Elizabeth Heath

Harvesting grapes or olives are among the most authentic things to do in Umbria. But the success of harvest time in Umbria depends almost entirely on Mother Nature.

Olive c’e l’hai? C’e l’hai l’uva?

“Do you have olives?” “Do you have grapes?”

They’re questions asked frequently this time of year, in Umbria and all over Italy. Because midsummer is when we all start to speculate about the fall, and what kind of harvests we’ll have. Right now, we’re hopeful. The grapevines and olive trees are loaded with fruit, and thus full of promise for a good vendemmia (grape harvest) or raccolta delle olive (olive harvest). If the majority of the crops survive until harvest time in September and October, harvest time in Umbria will be a banner season.

But it’s a big “if.”

One bad storm can ruin a harvest, and a lot can happen in a month or two, most of it out of the hands of farmers and normal folks, like us, who have a grove of olives to make our own olive oil. Here are just some of the variables:

Drought

Right now, we’re in the midst of a record heat wave. There hasn’t been any measurable rainfall in our area for weeks. The olives and grapes look fine for now, but a few more weeks of +100F days and no rain and the fruit may start to suffer. And that means we all start thinking about watering our vines and groves. But water tables are already low from an unseasonably dry winter, so then the question becomes whether it’s even reasonable to consume all that water and if so, where will it come from?

A hailstorm

A summer rainstorm is always a welcomed arrival. But here in Umbria, they can quickly turn into an agricultural disaster, especially in September and October, when temperatures are somewhat cooler. Because when that rain turns into hail, it can devastate grapes on the wine and leave them damaged to the point that there’s no use harvesting them. For olives, a hailstorm accompanied by heavy wind can strip fruit from the trees. And there goes the harvest.

The olive fly

Here’s the wildcard in every annual olive harvest. The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae, lays its eggs under the skin of growing olives. The larvae hatch within a few days and spend the next several weeks munching on the pulp of the olive before eating their way out, leaving behind shriveled olives and a ruined harvest. Many growers large and small refuse to treat with pesticides, so it’s really just a waiting game to see what the olive fly will do. One sort of pyrrhic piece of good news: sustained temperatures above 32 C (or just under 90 degrees) kill the eggs and larvae — though their tiny corpses remain in the harvested fruit, which is kinda eewww…

What a failed harvest means…

For people like Paolo and me, who are hobby growers of olives, a failed harvest is more disappointing than devastating. It means that rather than consume our own EVOO for the year and share it with our friends and family, we have to purchase olive oil — and trust me, our home-grown version is far, far superior.

But for commercial growers or grapes or olives, a failed or low-yield harvest is a huge financial setback that might take several years from which to recover, assuming a good season follows the bad one. Sometimes, drought, hail or olive flies strike year after year. Several bad harvests in a row might mean a farmer has to lay off his crew, seek work elsewhere, or even fold up shop entirely. For consumers, poor harvests can significantly raise the prices of wine and olive oil, as supply is not great enough to meet demand.

What these seasonal harvests mean to us

Picking grapes and olives are among the most cherished things to do in Umbria — in the countryside, at least — and a favorite activity in our autumn central Italy tours. It’s simply one of the best ways to feel connected to the land and its people, and to agrarian traditions that have carried on here for centuries, even millennia. Neither activity is terribly physical, though I suppose hauling giant nets heavy with olives can be a little strenuous.

For those of us who live here and look forward to our fall harvests, and for those who visit and participate, it’s the ritual of the vendemmia and the raccolta that we all love so much. We get an early start, and disperse among the row of vines with our clippers and buckets, or, for olives, with nets and small hand rakes for shaking loose the fruit. There’s plenty of laughter and chatter, a mid-morning break that always seems to include someone’s homemade wine, and then, a big lunch (we’ve earned it!), prepared by Paolo’s mom, Franca. This really is la dolce vita, Allerona-style.

After lunch, if there’s still work to do, we’re back to the fields. Otherwise, we might watch the initial pressing of the grapes (sorry folks, it’s done with hand presses, not with feet!) and taste the fresh, unfermented juice. When we’re done with the olive harvest, we take the crates of olives right to the mill and watch the entire process, from when the olives are separated from their stems and leaves to when our bright green oil starts to pour from the tap.

A backup plan for our guests….

When we have a bad olive harvest, as we did in 2023 (thanks, olive fly), we all miss out on the seasonal ritual, and so do our guests. And it’s why I never promise that we’ll pick grapes or olives, any more than I’d promise that we’ll find mushrooms, truffles or wild asparagus. Could it happen? Absolutely? Will it happen? We just have to wait and see.

What I can guarantee is that something will happen. If we can’t pick grapes or olives, then Peppino, our intrepid guide, will take us in search of mushrooms. Or Gaetano will get us up really early in the morning to search for truffles, when the ground is still cool and fresh and the dogs can sniff them out more easily. Or we’ll let Adio lead us on a woodland walk, where we’ll learn about edible plants and herbs, and how humans have relied on and altered the natural environment over the centuries. We’ll go to the olive mill or to the winery, and learn about how EVOO and small-batch wine is produced. And if it rains? Maybe we’ll just hit the spa!

Grape and olive harvests only happen in the fall. But any time of year you join us on a tour, we’ll include some outdoor activities that connect us with nature and the land. These experiences are more than just a chance to get outside — they provide cultural context and human connection, and help us to better understand the people of Allerona and appreciate their enduring, essential, and sentimental relationship to the land.

Back to the present — right now, things are looking great for our September and October tours in terms of timing for harvests. So keep your fingers crossed along with us, and get over here and help us pick some grapes and olives. If things keep going the way they’re going, we’re going to need the extra hands!