Olive pruning in Liguria - an overview

After quite some absence from posting (the reader will see why in the coming days), here I start with an initial report from a great experience made possible by the O.N.A.O.O. ( the italian national organization of olive oil tasters, link here).
 

The O.N.A.O.O. offices in Imperia (well, not all of the building...)

 Actually, it was not about olive oil tasting, but rather about
olive pruning. The reader may wonder why yours truly undertook a 2000km trip from the very Levante of the italian peninsula to the proper Ponente to see some saw&scissors in action: well, except for the almost unlimited time and funds available for travelling, my well kept secret penchant for hairdressing (even olives, if I have to make do), it most probably has to do with the fact that it has been organized by a notable organization like the O.N.A.O.O, with top of the line lecturers, both on the theoretical and practical side. More on that later.

Having managed to drag into this trip a fellow olive fanatic, all was set and off we went, destination Imperia. So, after about 10 hours of uninterrupted rain, we were welcomed by an endless streak of olive trees, terrace upon terrace, until we made it to our destination.

A detail of Imperia

At first glance one immediately sees the deep connection of this area with olives and the oil of its fruit: not only by the olive presses visible on almost every step, or by the towering presence of the Olio Carli company, the adjacent olive (oil) museum, but also by finding even places appropriately named

Olive orchard, 50 meteres above sea level...

And there we were, ready to see through the branches, the olive tree telling us where to cut and where to refrain from doing so. Well, not in a quite easily understandable way, but more on that in the next post!