The Alphabet Photography Project O is for Olives #alphabetphoto

Week 15 of PODcast‘s linky The Alphabet Photography Project.  Poor Monkey has been poorly since Monday night so my schedule has gone to pot again.  The Alphabet Photography Project O is for Olives!

This is the view pretty much from the end of the road where my parents live in Southern Spain.  Field upon field of olive trees as far as the eye can see.  I know when we’re flying over that area of Spain as looking down, it looks like a huge pin cushion.  It’s a sight I love when we are driving to my parents; I know we’ll be seeing them shortly.  It’s home away from home.

Every available are of land is covered, some trees are in really awkward spots, but they survive and help to provide a good yield for the farmers.

When we go on our many walks in the countryside with Guru Gramps, we are often to be found in the olive groves and at various times in the year we’ve seen the farmers cutting down old trees, planting saplings, tending the crops and harvesting.  These photos were taken from our trip last October, right in the middle of harvesting the olives in their mainly green state.

Monkey is fascinated with the olives; he gets so excited when we are there at harvest time.  It means lots and lots of tractors in the fields, lots of tractors on the roads and lots of tractors at the local cooperativa.  We’ve spent ages watching the farmers bring their crop in to be weighed and sorted.  It’s fascinating and we’ve all learnt a lot over the years.

Olives are a vital part of the local economy and nothing is ever wasted.  My parents have a wood burner in the living room and yes, they use olive wood to keep them warm during the winter months.

So whenever I see olives, I always thing of my parents, where they live, the friends we have there, and Spain.