Olives Provencale!

Bonjour Ma Chere Amie!

The olives are ripening all over Provence! All those lovely silvery-green trees are now beginning to drip with plump little orbs. Can you taste them? Soon everyone will be planning their harvests and I am looking forward to showing you how it all works. 

The Greeks have long said that if you want to “cure” your olives for eating you must
harvest in September and then tend them in a salt-water brine for a number of weeks. The practices vary considerably across families, each using recipes passed along through the generations.

 

They also say that if you want little black nicoise olives, then you
leave them on the trees as late as possible and hope the snow does not kill them. 

 
But mostly, around here in Provence, they say that the best time to harvest for oil is mid-November to mid-December.  That is when we take our olives off the trees and on to the Oliversion mill in nearby Cucuron for pressing into our very own oil!   

 
We hand-pick our olives, as do most families: one tree at a time, standing on old ladders, dropping them onto nets or into baskets that hang from the shoulders. It sounds romantic, doesn’t it?  Well, maybe not by the end of the third week…

 

We have a fairly good sized orchard, about 300 trees. It is a bit deceiving because they stand in groups of mostly 2-4 around old tree stumps! 

As the legend goes…..In 1956, a serious freeze “killed” nearly all the olive trees in Provence. But most of the roots survived and before long new trees began sprouting around the stumps. 

Chez nous (at our home) most of the stumps now support 2-4 trees, but a few are struggling to support as many as 12-20 trees—can you imagine?  Over time, we are moving those trees into new orchards where each has room to grow

 Our oil is rich and spicy in the early months after pressing. But 6 months in the cellar under the stairs produces a smooth and delicious oil that goes with all things Provencale and delicious!

You will see for yourself when you come to visit in early December!

A bientot, Janis

Curious Spaces for Artisans of the Luberon

Mon cher ami,

I thought of you on Sunday when I visited an art exhibition of wood, iron, glass, and inks in the hills of Provence! Given your appreciation for all things “sculpture”, you would likely have enjoyed every minute. 

The village of Banon has an old church at the top of its walled pedestrian village, L'Eglise Haute. A bit of research tells me that the church was deconsecrated in 1911 because the villagers refused to climb the hill for services. But in the 1960s an effort began to re-purpose the church and it now serves as a fabulous exhibition space for local artists and musicians.

I have gone there over the years, as I love the peaceful village in which it sits and the cool interior on a hot summer’s day. This weekend I was delighted to find a new exhibit: "Haute en Lumiere" with the two artists in residence to serve as guides for me—one even spoke wonderful English and understood my passable French. 

Two artists have collaborated on a number of the pieces: Ulla Lutz created metal frames which Isabelle Martin filled with wood sculptures. In other pieces, it was the reverse—the wood artist began the process with sculptures and then turned to the metal artist to create a frame of some kind around it. The results were stunning, as you can see!

 In still other pieces, creative portraits in ink had been pressed between glass panels and then framed in welded iron. Our friend Harris especially liked these.

The artistry of the staging added to the exhibition; using the alcoves, pedestals, and altar spaces to highlight some pieces, while others stood center stage in the apse.  

The high ceilings gave the perfect position for hanging chandeliers of beveled glass and worked iron.

I especially liked this lamp with its shell-like wood sculptures, set at curious angles to reflect and shadow the light. 

If you decide to come for a visit, let me know and I will make time for us to go the Banon church together. And while we are in the village we can visit the bookstore, Le Bleuet!

A bientot, J