For oil and olive trees, winter is a very important season, more than you can think. The cold months play a fundamental role in the quality of the oil that we will produce the next year.
The olive tree in winter: rest, resistance and preparation for the new season
After giving everything in summer and autumn, the olive tree enters a phase of vegetative rest.💤
It is not idle: it is only recovering energy, consolidating reserves and preparing the buds that will become flowers in spring.🌸
Nature, as we know, is a perfect, intelligent and ingenious machine: this strategic hibernation is proof of this.
The cold can be an ally…
The olive tree loves the cold as long as it is moderate: temperatures between 0°C and 10°C help the plant to:
- complete the process of growth of the branches
- strengthen the natural defenses
- Synchronizing future flowering
Many people don’t know it, but the quantity and quality of the flowers depend on the type of winter cold.
A too mild winter will produce fewer flowers. A balanced winter will probably give an abundant flowering.
The olive tree, however, needs a certain number of “cold hours” a day to activate bud differentiation.
The important thing is that there are no frosts to burn the buds.
What does the olive producer do in winter?
🧑🌾 As an oil producer, in addition to the sale of my product which intensifies during Christmas time, in winter I my work includes various activities on my land.
Ground control
🌧️After the autumn rains, I have to monitor:
- drainage
- possible erosion
Bottom fertilization
I go to feed my olive trees for the vegetative restart, with organic substances like Potassium and Phosphorus.
✂️Pruning (at the end of winter) is used to:
- ventilate the tree
- remove dry or diseased branches
- preparing the plant for production
Between the light mist and a clear sky, the olive tree seems motionless but it’s actually working for us!
Claudia Zucca
💡Web Content Creator
Sono Matteo Marconi, la mia è una famiglia di agricoltori. Sono cresciuto in azienda agricola e ho messo radici sempre più profonde in questo mondo fatto di cura e rispetto per la natura fin dall’adolescenza, iniziando a seguire le orme di mio padre con i primi lavori in campagna.
La mia giornata? Sveglia già all’alba a sfalciare l’erba tra i mie ulivi con un attento controllo delle piante che tratto con Spintor Fly, un insetticida biologico.
La fase più faticosa dell’anno ma anche la più attesa è la raccolta delle olive, in autunno, per ottenere l’olio extra vergine d’oliva di qualità superiore che produco e imbottiglio. In base al periodo dell’anno, mi occupo anche del fieno per i miei animali.
Sono giovane, ma grandemente coinvolto nelle attività dell’azienda di famiglia e il nome dell’olio che produco con tanta passione (e orgoglio) ne è chiara dimostrazione: Azienda Agricola Marconi Matteo. Nel logo c’è solo la lettera M, l’iniziale del mio nome e cognome, non per manie di protagonismo, ma perché ci metto davvero tutto Me stesso.
