I find the last two apparent contradictory posts from BarbaraC and bunterboy fascinating as I suspect they are indeed both right! The first is looking at expert production of the highest yield possible and the second maintaining a large number of olive trees. I also think what bunterboy has said is very true that olive trees, in the sense of their survival, are almost like weeds. My previous reply was thinking like Barbara, high yield and ease of picking. To get down to such precise detail taking into account location is an art and would take years to get right. But Bunterboy’s “Dead, diseased and crossing, aim for the goblet shape.” I think is absolutely true and a classic way to prune most fruiting trees. Have to admit I would have never thought (especially not having any) of harvesting for the wood. A sin some might say, but olive being such a superb firewood, it’s a great use. Obviously ideally you would have the oil, wood cuttings and sansa. There is masses of information on pruning olives on the web. I don’t think you could ever become and expert or even part proficient from it, but you could get a good idea of what people are trying to do when you watch them or speak to them about it. On that subject, an important word to learn “perché” Best of luck in you venture…PS I would go with the Stihl, but perhaps look at their extended pole saw
I might also not fully agree with clombardelli, but I would never really say so! I’m sure the OP is just thankful clombardelli has taken the time to write a very good detailed response. We all love the place we live/picked (and Italian I think are ever worse for this), but what suits one person may not suit everyone. I agree airports are important, especially if you intend to travel back and forward and/or have lots of guests, frequent trips there and back can be a pain. You also need to think about getting there in winter and what if Mr O’leary pulls the plug on your chosen airport?I would say I like all the seasons here (and I think there little difference between here in Abruzzo and Le Marche), but I can see summer becoming my least favourite once I get my English lack of sun out of my system. Then again it depends on what you are looking for in your life and what type of person you are. Many ex-pats here find it boring in the winter simply because they love to sun bathe in sweltering heat for hours on end. Also a lot wouldn’t dream of sitting outside in less than 25c and a lot of Italians we find are the same, although they tend to just go by whatever month it is and not the temperature…. We will sit outside at 15c with the fleece on and have breakfast, but yes we have never been “normal”. The beach can be wonderful out of season and we have been down a number of times (only 30 minutes for us), including in January in shorts and tee-shirt, mind you it was 24c that day. We have also been snowed in for 3-4 days solid. Not that we live so remote, just the drive(s) are about 200m length and steep and we had drifts of 2-3M in places. Of course at first it’s fun, that is until the power goes off (thankfully not often here) and you are running out of battery juice.When it comes down to it I think you would find there is little difference between Le Marche and Abruzzo, except that is on what you will get for your pound. Unless a lot has changed recently, Le Marche is more expensive. We ruled it out on that and the very fact I’ve mentioned above, if Pescara airport goes (there is often a lot of talk of regional airports going), we have Rome, not too sure what you do if Ancona goes or RyanAir pull out. At the moment we also have 3 flights a day from Pescara to Rome, which is quite good if we want to fly into Manchester… Molise we never even considered as it was just too far South for us and again because of the airport situation.At the moment summer is perhaps not the best month in the country never mind Marche, but it’s on a par with spring and close is autumn. Winter we don’t like anywhere….
Not much idea, but if someone here can tell you what you are after is called in Italy and who would do it. Try this yellow pages site. I would be most surprised if the search I entered in the link gives you what you are after, but someone else might know the correct term. Likely better still would be to spot what you are after locally and knock on their door and ask them who did the job and were they happy with it... Mind you half a guess it will be their uncle or brother....!
No, but I can only applaud your decision to try to find a way. I would suggest you find the best person in your area (I'm sure there will be one) and get them to give you lessons. Unfortunately I'm also sure it takes years... Still it's a great retirement project!
Well yesterday and today would throw you, lovely blue sky and 20c.... But totally agree with Tizianau that seeing these places out of season is a good idea. In fact visits in all the seasons is ideal, as well as trying to get in a prolonged stay. Renting before buying, although additional cost, is well recommended. Better to be sure than spend a lot of money you may find very hard to get back.
Comments posted
GP's advice is unbiased and very good...
Great find by Gala...
I find the last two apparent contradictory posts from BarbaraC and bunterboy fascinating as I suspect they are indeed both right! The first is looking at expert production of the highest yield possible and the second maintaining a large number of olive trees. I also think what bunterboy has said is very true that olive trees, in the sense of their survival, are almost like weeds. My previous reply was thinking like Barbara, high yield and ease of picking. To get down to such precise detail taking into account location is an art and would take years to get right. But Bunterboy’s “Dead, diseased and crossing, aim for the goblet shape.” I think is absolutely true and a classic way to prune most fruiting trees. Have to admit I would have never thought (especially not having any) of harvesting for the wood. A sin some might say, but olive being such a superb firewood, it’s a great use. Obviously ideally you would have the oil, wood cuttings and sansa. There is masses of information on pruning olives on the web. I don’t think you could ever become and expert or even part proficient from it, but you could get a good idea of what people are trying to do when you watch them or speak to them about it. On that subject, an important word to learn “perché” Best of luck in you venture…PS I would go with the Stihl, but perhaps look at their extended pole saw
I might also not fully agree with clombardelli, but I would never really say so! I’m sure the OP is just thankful clombardelli has taken the time to write a very good detailed response. We all love the place we live/picked (and Italian I think are ever worse for this), but what suits one person may not suit everyone. I agree airports are important, especially if you intend to travel back and forward and/or have lots of guests, frequent trips there and back can be a pain. You also need to think about getting there in winter and what if Mr O’leary pulls the plug on your chosen airport?I would say I like all the seasons here (and I think there little difference between here in Abruzzo and Le Marche), but I can see summer becoming my least favourite once I get my English lack of sun out of my system. Then again it depends on what you are looking for in your life and what type of person you are. Many ex-pats here find it boring in the winter simply because they love to sun bathe in sweltering heat for hours on end. Also a lot wouldn’t dream of sitting outside in less than 25c and a lot of Italians we find are the same, although they tend to just go by whatever month it is and not the temperature…. We will sit outside at 15c with the fleece on and have breakfast, but yes we have never been “normal”. The beach can be wonderful out of season and we have been down a number of times (only 30 minutes for us), including in January in shorts and tee-shirt, mind you it was 24c that day. We have also been snowed in for 3-4 days solid. Not that we live so remote, just the drive(s) are about 200m length and steep and we had drifts of 2-3M in places. Of course at first it’s fun, that is until the power goes off (thankfully not often here) and you are running out of battery juice.When it comes down to it I think you would find there is little difference between Le Marche and Abruzzo, except that is on what you will get for your pound. Unless a lot has changed recently, Le Marche is more expensive. We ruled it out on that and the very fact I’ve mentioned above, if Pescara airport goes (there is often a lot of talk of regional airports going), we have Rome, not too sure what you do if Ancona goes or RyanAir pull out. At the moment we also have 3 flights a day from Pescara to Rome, which is quite good if we want to fly into Manchester… Molise we never even considered as it was just too far South for us and again because of the airport situation.At the moment summer is perhaps not the best month in the country never mind Marche, but it’s on a par with spring and close is autumn. Winter we don’t like anywhere….
Not much idea, but if someone here can tell you what you are after is called in Italy and who would do it. Try this yellow pages site. I would be most surprised if the search I entered in the link gives you what you are after, but someone else might know the correct term. Likely better still would be to spot what you are after locally and knock on their door and ask them who did the job and were they happy with it... Mind you half a guess it will be their uncle or brother....!
No, but I can only applaud your decision to try to find a way. I would suggest you find the best person in your area (I'm sure there will be one) and get them to give you lessons. Unfortunately I'm also sure it takes years... Still it's a great retirement project!
... nice to see you getting that off your chest...
Well yesterday and today would throw you, lovely blue sky and 20c.... But totally agree with Tizianau that seeing these places out of season is a good idea. In fact visits in all the seasons is ideal, as well as trying to get in a prolonged stay. Renting before buying, although additional cost, is well recommended. Better to be sure than spend a lot of money you may find very hard to get back.
Good point Alan_h!
WoW without the cost of the work, that is a lot and I suspect one of the reasons this country struggles!