One of the great educational experiences we have had in Italy has been learning about the olive tree.
This is a picture of one of the olive trees on the Rome Temple plaza. It is 400 - 500 years old. As we come and go we have seen how the gardeners carefully care for these trees...pruning, digging, grafting and harvesting the olives they produce.
"In the olive tree you can feel the wisdom of the ancient world" - Carol Drinkwater
These observations, along with our study of the Allegory of the Olive Tree in the Book of Mormon (Jacob 5 - 7), have increased our admiration for these olive trees. The age of these trees is a witness to the future-thinking person who planted them and the generations of people who have cared for them.
We have also grown in our understanding and appreciation for the olive and for olive oil. We had the chance to experience an olive harvest, watching the workers shake the olives off the limbs and on to the massive nets carpeting the ground below. We even got to help a little!
Our education continued as we toured an olive oil processing plant and saw the olives unloaded from the baskets, washed, crushed, purified and saw the golden oil come out and poured into containers.
An Olive Oil lecture and tasting event filled our minds to overflowing with facts and figures about this fascinating and flavorful product that has been used for centuries for food, medicine and religious rituals.
Olive trees are one of the things we will miss greatly. They have added to our ever-growing love of Italy. However, we will bring home our new-found knowledge of good olive oil and allow it to keep us connected to the ancient roots of this great tree!!
