As the fear of nightly frosts fades, the olive fields start buzzing with people, equipped with pruning shears and saws. Ladders appear on the trees. Tractors gather twigs and branches in a pile. Here and there, fires are lit up, and their smoke rises towards the sky. It is time to trim the olive trees.
But why do we need to trim the trees?
We trim them to better harvest their fruit, the olives. Like every tree, olive trees grow upwards, and, as the lower branches die, only their top branches carry olives, which become increasingly difficult to harvest. When trees are left in their natural state, they start to grow sprouts around their base, turning them into bushes that also hinder the harvest.
Based on climate and tree varieties, every region has its own trimming technique. In Tuscany, the olive trees are cut to be shaped like "polyconic vases". From the main trunk, about a meter high, the trees grow three or four main branches, called carpenter branches. We only keep the branches that grow towards the outside of the tree - as a result, the centre of the tree becomes hollow, which allows light to come through. By doing so, we increase the concentration of olives on the outside of the tree, which makes the harvest easier.
Finally, it is important to know that olives only grow on branches that are at least a year old... which implies that, when trimming the tree, we have to keep in mind the next two harvesting seasons.
In a few lines, on a blog post, the trimming of olive trees seems rather simple. But it is actually an art form: how does one decide which branch to keep or remove, and until what height? Moreover, the Moraiolo tree variety does not require the same pruning as the Pendolino, or the Frantoio...
Come trim the olive trees with us, and share the sausages that we grill on woodfires at lunch time. You will be able to listen to the tree pruners explain their individual trimming technique, or even bicker about whose approach is the best, using principles and anectodes transmitted through generations, highlighting the importance of olive tree trimming in Tuscan culture.