Production

Limone’s olive oil has particular qualities due to the local climate, the soil, the variety of olive and the particular care taken in harvesting and pressing the olives. Harvest time is at the beginning of November; there is a local saying which says “A San Marti s’en drisa en pe le scali.. Roughly translated this is “On St. Martino’s one puts up the ladder”. (St. Martino is November 11.) The farmer uses a ladder made of a single trunk (rather like a pole), the rungs of which protrude from both sides (it must therefore be firmly set on the ground). Ladders of different lengths are then tied to a branch. Because of both the type of terrain and height of the trees, olive picking is still a manual task. The picker takes a branch in one hand and uses the other hand to pick the olives which are placed in a “grumiâl., a bag made of donkey leather, which is tied to his belt and must be emptied often. In case any olives should be dropped, large sheets or fine nets are spread around the trees. In the evening the picker takes his olives to the oil-mill where they are spread on large, specially made, shelves and they must be periodically moved. When he has finished harvesting, the farmer bags the olives (a process called “micolãr” in the local dialect) and waits his turn for pressing. The press uses two large granite stones which are driven by a waterwheel on the St. Giovanni stream. After the first pressing, the pulp then passes to the “gramoladosatrice» where it is reduced into smaller pieces prior to re-entering the press. The liquid produced, a mixture of oil and water is passed to the centrifuge. The oil is then filtered through cotton and is finally ready.
La polpa passa poi nella gramoladosatrice e nelle presse; dal separatore centrifugo passa quindi nei filtri (a cotone), dopo di che l’olio è pronto.
La Cooperativa Agricola Possidenti Oliyeti molisce soltanto le olive dei propri soci; volendo, essi possono ritirare it loro prodotto o conferirlo, tutto o in parte, alla Cooperativa.