It’s a Nutty World

September was mainly about nuts. I picked them one by one, off the ground and trees. It was a slow process but not unpleasant as the ground around the trees was mainly clear. As Cláudia A. mentioned on Facebook, picking nuts is a form of meditation. I may try using nets next year. These are a extra work to move around and can get damaged especially on your own.

Almonds, AmẼndoas, Belmonte,Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal, organically grown almonds
Almonds / AmẼdoas

I managed to collect 130 kg of almonds this year. Many of the self seeded almond trees have begun producing. I sold about a third and will be using the rest. Definitely making some almond toffee and chopped almonds in breakfast cereal 🙂 . It’s a slow business cracking the almonds nut by nut with a small hand operated machine but far better than using a hammer.

Olives. My olive trees are resting this year. I managed to harvest about 13 kg. I dressed and pickled 3 kg. Could have done with double this amount of unblemished ones to preserve.

Olives for pickling / azeitonas para conserva, Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
Olives for pickling / azeitonas para conserva

I had a go at trying to make olive oil. I started with about 9 kg of olives. I first mashed them. I found this step to be unnecessary and a waste of my energy.

Home made olive oil attempt / tento fazer azeite caseiro,  Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
Home made olive oil attempt / tento fazer azeite caseiro

I them blended them for 6 seconds with a bit of water. Two bursts of six seconds for each lot. You have to be careful as the seed (stones) can damage your blades.

blended the olives, olives in a blender, home made oil oil, Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
blended the olives

An old T-shirt was used to strain the blend. The stones remained mainly whole.

strained blend and residue, home made olive oil, Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
strained blend and residue

I poured the stain liquid into a plastic bottle to settle. I the squeezed the residue and poured the stained liquid into another bottle.

oil olive settling and seperating into layers , home made olive oil , Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
oil olive settling and seperating into layers

After 3 weeks I can see about 1 cm of clear olive oil in the 5 litre bottle which is about 0.16 litres. In conclusion the juice is definitely not worth the squeeze and I won’t be doing this again without a press and better filtration.

I harvested all the sweet corn. Pleased with the result considering there were less than a dozen plants. I have collected some seed for next year.

sweet corn / milho , Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
sweet corn / milho

Had some pomegranates. The variety ‘Asyria’ seems to give better pomegranates. These have a yellowish outer skin and the seeds are pink but still sweet. Pomegranates like the olives, carobs and almonds are drought resistant trees and do well here with minimal irrigation.

Pomegranates / Romas fruit, drought resistant, Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
Pomegranates / Romas

Had some apples! I have two varieties one is yellowish mild, sweet and non acidic. These here are okay. Their skin has unpleasant flavour – mildly like kerosene (paraffin). I have stewed two kg for winter. It tastes like baby food 🙂 .

apples / maça ,  Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
apples / maça

Despite a lot of fruit drop, I was surprised that I still got a decent amount of persimmon. They are a delicious fruit. I regret my father did not have a chace to see and try them. I have been getting a stream of about 4 fruit a day for over a month. Going to plant some seeds. Apparently they grow true amd take about 5 years before you get a fruiting tree.

persimmon / diospiro,  Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
persimmon / diospiro

That’s all for now. The olives grow slowly. I have some to sell for €3 a plant. If you know someone please put them in touch. dev1@bright-work.co.uk

small olive tree / oliveira pequena , oliveiras para vender, olive trees for sale, Belmonte, Luz de Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
small olive tree /oliveira pequena