Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In Palestine, spring is marked by the beautiful poppies, irises and colourful wildflowers that bloom amongst the olive groves that cover the hills.  This is the time of year that the framers are pruning their trees, tilling the soil, checking for problems with the olive.  Our farmers still use traditional techniques of weeding by hand and beating the branches of the olive trees to help them be more productive.  These hills and terraces which are covered in olive trees then come alive in October when the harvest begins with farmers and their whole families harvesting the olives form dawn until dusk, eating all their meals that have been prepared by campfire under the trees in the way that Palestinian families have done for centuries.  These days there are lots of international volunteers helping bring in the olives and providing protective presence for farmers who face violence and harassment from the occupation.  Once the olives are collected, they are taken to a community press, where the oil is extracted and tested for its quality.  It them comes to Al Ard to be bottled and packaged and ready to ship.