A Settler's Olive Tree

With all the nastiness thrown at settlers about allegedly cutting down Arab olive trees, (and emerging proof that the Arabs are the ones cutting down their own trees) I decided to post a personal story about the lone olive tree...at the Muqata.

My 2 oldest kids informed me last week that they were going to pick the olives from our tree. We'd never done it before, and I was too busy to bother. Let them have their fun...

Enterprising as ever, they proudly presented me with their handiwork 2 hours later:



I won't put up any pictures of what our poor tree looked like AFTER they got through with it, but I'm reminded of the Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein (a book I used often as a madrich)


Stuck with buckets of olives at our front door, I was given the job of dealing with the olives. On my way to work this morning, I stopped by a neighboring settlement, Itamar.




Located near Shechem, Itamar is home to the only Jewish-owned olive press in the area -- and it's run by Mr. Barak Melet. In addition to operating the olive press, Barak has his own olive grove and wheat fields -- and he also produces organic flour with his own flour mill. (We use his organic flour for baking matzot on Erev Pesach)


Inside the olive press, I was greeted by many buckets and bags of olives awaiting pressing. (It costs 6 NIS per liter of oil pressed from your olives -- and has an output maximum capacity of close to 200 liters an hour)



The press itself has a panel that controls all the functions of the press.



Barak pouring olives into the press.


Oil dripping out of the press...



And is poured into yellow containers.


Stats:

• Each tree produces about 5 liters of olive oil
• You can fit about 75 trees per dunan (100 square meters)
• Price per liter of oil: 32 NIS.
• Amount of money possible per dunam: 12,000 NIS (roughly $2800)

What's left of the olives after pressing: (Barak uses this stuff for heating his home)


Leaving Itamar (I had to get to work already!!)





Off to the North was Shechem...in between the mountains.





On my way westwards to route 60, I passed the local IDF base.



And continued on to Road 60...


Mission Complete: Our olive tree provided us with 5 liters of olive oil which we hope to use this coming Chanuka; and if my wife approves, for cooking as well.

The last remaining issue is that I need to take off terumot and massrot (with a bracha). Note: trumot and massrot are taken from the oil, and not the olives.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael