A Discussion On Central Coast California Olive Farm

By Brenda Warner


Many people practice several economic activities. There is an endless list of such activities farming being among them. Many people depend on farming for a living. You cannot also ignore the fact that it is through farming that people eat and grow strong and healthy. There are many crops that can be grown for their economic value. This supplies both local and global markets. Just to mention is Central Coast California Olive Farm.

The source of olive is the its tree. This tree has been growing in the coast of California for a long period of time. The product of this plant is olive oil. The oil is known worldwide and has many applications. The tree is short, squatted and always green. They bore long, thin fleshed and small fruits. An indication of ripe fruits is when they turn purple or green. Managing the crops can be described to be both easy and at the same time difficult.

These plants can survive in almost all the climatic conditions making them able to grow at the coast. They can grow at both sunny and moderate environs. They also adapt by retaining or not dropping their leaves surviving in almost all the types of soils. With fruit bearing, they can have fruits for almost the entire season. Since they are not tall, harvesting is a simple task.

In this century, most cash crops have a mechanized way of harvest. This does not work with olives. This is because mechanization does not favor this crops. As a matter of fact, the increased level of mechanization used the more the depreciating the value of oil. For a higher quality oil therefore, you should ensure that you use limited mechanization during harvesting. This involves hand picking.

Harvesting by hand can be done in two ways. Use of a basket and using a net while picking with hands are the methods. The former involves picking the fruits and dropping them directly to the basket. Though the best, it is ineffective and expensive. The latter involves using long sticks and rakes to drop the fruits as they collect in the net. This method is more effective.

As said earlier, there are limited methods of mechanized harvesting of olive. The reason behind this is that the machines will damage the tree branches and leaves. The first method of machine harvesting involve using a machine to shake off the fruits from the tree. The second involves the machine covering the tree and sucking off the oil. Harvesting should be done at the right weather conditions. This will help net a good harvest.

For those farmers with experience, they will not face any challenge establishing the correct season for harvest. The right weather conditions being during no rains and strong cold with fog that will interfere with the process of harvesting. Presence of these conditions will hinder the process including climbing of trees and other activities in the field.

Small scale olive farmers usually employ the use of family labor during the harvesting period. Large plantations with many trees will require external source of labor to help during this period. With them however, they are faced with a challenge of inadequate labor as many persons do not enjoy farm work.




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