Olives

The olive harvest is starting. The production is quite localised and mostly on the plain. According to one of the many olive legends, Hercules, during the course of his labours, rested his mighty club on the ground. From it sprouted an olive tree. Once his labours were successfully completed, he took his tree to Olympia and planted an olive orchard for the gods. Reputedly the first in the Mediterranean. Since then they have been an important cash crop all around the Med. Indeed, in 1870 there were 108 olive oil mills in the Pyrénées Orientales alone.
Then the terrible winter of 1956 destroyed almost all the olive trees. Olive orchards were rooted up and vines planted. Spain survived and now accounts for more than 40% of world production. Since 1994, a programme of grants has encouraged the resurgence of the olive oil industry in France. It takes five years from planting the trees to harvesting the first crop of olives. The olive stall is one of my favourites on the market.