The weather will decide

The weather will decide...

Before we came to Italy, we lived in Oedelem (Belgium), an area where you can still find farmers living from their land and stock. And as it is said about farmers, also they frequently complained about the weather; it was always too cold of too hot, too wet or too dry. And like most of our neighbors, we thought they were exaggerating. But now, now I understand why they talked and complained so much about the weather! Because the weather is the biggest determinant of your yearly revenu as a farmer. And also for us, this will be the case for our olive oil.

This year, 2022, I can describe the weather we had as followed: we had gallons and gallons of rain pouring out of the sky until mid april here in Petacciato, Molise. According to the locals, never seen before (maybe they sometimes exaggerate but still). And after that, summer came! It was like we skipped spring and went straight to the beautiful beach weather. Since then, we haven't seen any rain on our hillside.

Now we listen carefully to our neighbors (all with some olive trees on their land) and hear the uneasiness in their voices. The harvest this year will not be good, they say. The percentage of oil that will come from our olives will again drop some percentages. That means an intensive taste (the good news) but a low volume. When I listen to the news and see the images from Spain, Portugal, ... this summer, we will not be the only ones.

One thing that I have learned here the last couple of months is that you can not control everything, even when you work hard and do the best you can. Because... the weather will decide!