20 Dec 2023, 12:10
Juan José Mercado Gavilán
News
1 likes
1567 views
0 comments

THE END OF THE 2023-24 CAMPAIGN IS BROUGHT FORWARD.

Hello to all our followers and readers of the MERGAOLIVA BLOG.

After a few months without writing, we are going to tell you about some events that have taken place in this period of time. I hope not to bore you.

As the 2023-24 campaign draws to a close, a number of predictions are being confirmed.

A poor season in terms of the quantity of fruit was already predicted, as was the case up to the present day. The scarcity of rainwater and the lack of moisture in the soils led to a decrease in fruit set, which resulted in a very poor harvest.

What was "not expected" was the low fat yield, although this was also predictable. After the state of stress of the olive tree, given the extreme and continuous heat of this past summer, lipogenesis did not take place as it should have done. At the key moments in the transformation of the fruit's sugars into fat, the olive tree had to endure endless days of extreme heat with temperatures between 47 and 50ºC. The olive tree went into dormancy at the key moment for the creation of oil in its fruit. Then, in the month of October, the first rains came, very well received by the olive tree, but so well received that after so much fatigue we could say that it entered a state of rest or relaxation: after the ordeal it was difficult for it to keep up with the rhythm of the date and culminate with the formation of the oil.

The aforementioned has caused fat yields to be well below normal. A few days ago, in an article, you could read that yields were estimated at 4 points below normal; but I dare to point out, from what we have experienced in our mill, that they will be 5 to 6 points below what was obtained in previous "normal" seasons.

The ripening of the olives has also been affected by the aforementioned stress, with the fruit having developed a little over a month earlier: development in its physical state, but not in its fat yield, as I mentioned earlier. It has been a very complicated season for us when it comes to choosing farms and harvesting them at the right time, according to their state of ripeness, in order to obtain our different types of Extra Virgin Olive Oils. The parameters of previous years have not helped us at all in this 2023-24 campaign. We have finished the bulk of the campaign in the month of November, when we usually did it at the end of December. Nature has changed its usual steps due to the weather disruption. Let us hope that the problem will be reversed and that we will put the means at our disposal to remedy it as far as possible.

Although there has been a decrease in fruit and oil, at least there has been no decrease in the quality of the EVOOs: not everything was going to be negative. We have obtained very little oil, but with superior quality as usual; although it should be noted that the aroma and flavour nuances are somewhat lower than usual. Our early oils are the most highly valued, so much so that by the end of the year we will be practically out of stock of one of our types of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, specifically ALBA, of the picual variety.

What a joy it is to see life in the soil of our olive groves! The oils will be the bearers of this health.

As a novelty, this season we have added another product to our already extensive range: Organic "sunset". This is an Extra Virgin Olive Oil from certified organic cultivation, but from olives obtained at a more advanced stage of ripening than usual. I have already mentioned the earlier ripening and the difficulty in its selection, which is why it has not been possible for us to obtain all the organic EVOO at an earlier ripening stage.

Another novelty is the packaging of the ACEBUCHINA variety in a 250ml dark glass bottle. Until this campaign it had been packaged in a 250ml tin (ideal for transport, due to its resistance), but we have decided to give a different image to this product, which is so outstanding for its healthy qualities. We have chosen a format that is reminiscent of the packaging used in the "traditional" pharmaceutical sector, emphasising the medicinal value of this EVOO, which comes from the fruit of the wild olive tree.

After the harvesting and milling season, it is time to start again to take up the agricultural work to replenish and take care of the farms that will provide us with olives next year, if circumstances allow us to do so.

Today we have visited one of our farms from which we obtain our organic EVOOs, where we are planting a variety of trees and shrubs, in order to help the proliferation of biodiversity.

Visiting with our parents the farm from which we have obtained organic EVOO "atardecer".

Covering the floors, we consider it an initiative to take, as the sweltering heat is becoming more and more present, as we are experiencing during the last few years. Covering the soil will help to keep the little humidity that has accumulated, avoiding its evaporation, as well as acting as a hat in the hottest days of the summer. The leaves from cleaning the olives and the manure will help us to do this, creating the aforementioned cover.

Horse manure.

Olive leaf, from the cleaning of olives in the milling process.

We have also carried out the first application of micro-organisms this year after harvesting, both foliar and for the soil, in order to help its regeneration.

Juan José Mercado Gavilán.

Lahiguera a 20 de diciembre de 2023.

Related products

Disponible

WILD OLIVE

ACEBUCHINA Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Bottle 250ml

ACE250VOE

€17.00

0 reviews

ACEBUCHINA Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Bottle 250ml Helps to reduce hypertension (click to see article). Analytical data: Determinations Results Total tocopherols (mg/kg) 667,2 alfa-Tocoferol (mg/kg) 634,4 beta-Tocoferol (mg/kg) 9,2 gamma-Tocoferol (mg/kg) 23,6 delta-Tocoferol (mg/kg) <1,0 Vitamina E in 100gr (mg) 64,49 Total polyphenols...