The picked olives were brought to the press. First they are washed (in the machine by the man in the blue jump suit), then ground pits and all by two massive wheels.
Next they are put onto woven plastic mats. The oil runs out just under their own weight, then they are squeezed in a massive hydraulic press for a few hours.
The oil goes into a centrifuge to remove the water and to mix it well. Then it is bottled or put into a tank. The waste product looks like dark chips, the oil business buy these "chips" but nobody at the press knew why. I have consumed liters and liters of olive oil here, it is great!
After Panic Ale (Panicale), the town I was staying in, I got a ride from Paul and Jane to
Spannocchia, which is near Siena.
I made some new friends. The farm is part of a program called "Noah's Ark" which is in effort to save the heirloom breeds of farm animals because they are less "efficient" at growing, working, or producing.
Spannocchia makes wine, vin santo, grappa, olive oil and other products. These are grapes that were not fit to make wine, but look yummy to me! Wine grapes are not very good to eat, they're mush.
I am going to do a whole blog post just to the pigs there when I figure out how to get the rest of the pictures off my camera. The pigs are amazing!
