The olive, botanical name Olea europaea, meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. The species is cultivated in all the countries of the Mediterranean, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa. The olive's fruit, also called an "olive", is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil; it is one of the core ingredients in Mediterranean cuisine. Hundreds of cultivars of the olive tree are known. Olive cultivars may be used primarily for oil, eating, or both. Olives cultivated for consumption are generally referred to as "table olives". About 90% of all harvested olives are turned into oil, while about 10% are used as table olives.

Olive oil has long been considered sacred and holy. The olive branch has often been a symbol of abundance, glory, and peace. The leafy branches of the olive tree were ritually offered to deities and powerful figures as emblems of benediction and purification, and they were used to crown the victors of friendly games and bloody wars. Today, olive oil is still used in many religious ceremonies. Over the years, the olive has also been used to symbolize wisdom, fertility, power, and purity.

Olives are harvested in the autumn and winter. More specifically in the Northern Hemisphere, green olives are picked from the end of September to about the middle of November. Blond olives are picked from the middle of October to the end of November, and black olives are collected from the middle of November to the end of January or early February. In southern Europe, harvesting is done for several weeks in winter, but the time varies in each country, and with the season and the cultivar.

Most olives today are harvested by shaking the boughs or the whole tree. Using olives found lying on the ground can result in poor quality oil, due to damage. Another method involves standing on a ladder and "milking" the olives into a sack tied around the harvester's waist. This method produces high quality oil. A third method uses a device called an oli-net that wraps around the tree trunk and opens to form an umbrella-like catcher from which workers collect the fruit. Another method uses an electric tool, the beater (abbacchiatore in Italian), that has large tongs that spin around quickly, removing fruit from the tree. Olives harvested by this method are used for oil.

Table olive varieties are more difficult to harvest, as workers must take care not to damage the fruit; baskets that hang around the worker's neck are used. In some places in Italy, Croatia, and Greece, olives are harvested by hand because the terrain is too mountainous for machines. As a result, the fruit is not bruised. The method also involves sawing off branches, which is healthy for future production.

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  • spring_rabbit [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Working with a client who has no form of ID or phone, doesn't know how to use email, or doesn't know her social security number or year of birth.

    Somehow we need to convince the government to give her money so that she can get an ID and then the rest, but I'm running into some very circular problems.

  • soy_disantra [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    my mother texted me a dark brandon meme this morning :flannel-red:

  • Grownbravy [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I would like to kiss you on the forehead and tell you you’re doing a great job and that I believe in you

  • furryanarchy [comrade/them,they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Figured out one of my managers is illiterate, hides it, and is extremely defensive about it. For context, this is at a factory job, and they are in charge of one of the more complicated machines that is computer controlled and the operator frequently needs to use the computer to fix jams. I'm extremely impressed how well they manage to run everything despite not knowing how to read. They literally learned how to do things on the computer by memorizing button press combinations and sequences. They don't understand what is going on on the screen, but manage to almost get by.

    They are extremely frustrating to work with purely because of this fact. They don't want people to realize they can't read so they yell at people for doing things on the computer and make them to things by hand even if it takes ten times as long to do so. They insist certain things like inventory management and labels be done in a very specific and inefficient way because they can't read anything to verify that the labels or inventory counting is done correctly. So they micromanage every single part of the process to the point of absolute absurdity.

    They aren't stupid, they just can't read. It's sad.

    • TreadOnMe [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think if we ever did follow up literary tests in this country, there would be a good 10 to 15% of U.S. adults that are functionally illiterate. As you said, not stupid, just illiterate. I've worked with many of these people in factories, the really sad part is when the management doesn't understand what is going on and keeps trying to get into more and more technocratic solutions when basic adult secondary education would solve the problem.

  • buttwater [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    As I open up hexbear for the 100th new time today :bloomer:

    Realizing I'm just lonely and no amount of online engagement will fix that :oh-shit:

  • GVAGUY3 [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Whenever you cook with Olive Oil, garlic, and onions, you make your place smell so good

  • mrbigcheese [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    big victory for DSA in NY tonight, Kristen Gonzalez won her state senate race against Elizabeth Crowley (cousin to Joe Crowley who AOC beat) even though like over $1M got poured into that race against Kristen. DSA now has 8 endorsed electeds in a socialist caucus together in the NY legislature, 3 in the senate and 5 in the assembly.

    https://twitter.com/nycDSA/status/1562279648318332928

    https://twitter.com/georgejoseph94/status/1562261221780463616

    Astoria is now the only place in the country today and second in US history where socialists control the congress seat, state senate, state assembly, and city council at the same time.

    https://twitter.com/mahoneyw/status/1562265548733530112

  • Wertheimer [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    "These people are barbarians. They cultivate no olives and they drink no wine."

    • a Roman senator writing home from his posting in what is now Romania.
    • Wertheimer [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Slight correction, but I don't want to mar my beautiful FIRST post with an edit. The senator in question is Cassius Dio, a historian who lived from around AD 155-235. The exact quote, as translated by Earnest Cary, is "The Pannonians dwell near Dalmatia along the very bank of the Ister from Noricum to Moesia and lead the most miserable existence of all mankind. For they are not well off as regards either soil or climate; they cultivate no olives and produce no wine."

  • Sandinband
    ·
    2 years ago

    Feeling very weird mentally recently and have no clue what will make me feel better :sadness: