Harvesting Olives in Asira al Shamiliya

After some hours of beating the branches, picking, gathering and filling buckets and sacks of green and black olives, we take a break enjoying soup and a rice dish.

Summers have become drier, the fresh leaves a little more brittle and the olives less plump than in former times. No wells are permitted and water from tankers is very expensive.

The Yasmin family who hosted us and all the farmers of Asira al Shamiliya are devoted to their heritage however, and very welcoming to their American visitors.