田舎暮らしポルトガル

We've come to see olive oil as the greatest gift of this land. We now understand that there's something magical about the olive tree – the way it thrives with minimal attention and very little water, producing fruit year after year. And the way its tiny fruits turn into the most amazing oil.

So, with the grape juice bottled and the wine fermenting you might think that's it with the grapes. Think again, though... There's more goodness to get out of that fruit yet!

As the summer draws to a close, we feel the grape harvest and wine-making (vindima) coming on. We live in an area of tiny smallholdings, where almost everyone has vines enough to keep them in wine for the year. Although it's rare to see anyone out on the land checking their grapes, we know they must keep an eye on them, checking ripeness and counting forward to estimate when the harvest should take place – taking due consideration of the weather forecasts, too.

Back in June, I started doing a little summer pruning of our grape vines. They are such vigorous plants that, without a little cutting back, they would block every pathway around our land and even the road that runs past! A few of the prunings fell onto the road and, before I could collect them up, our neighbour Pedro happens past.

"Do you want those?"

"What?"

"The prunings!"

"Well, no... Ummm... They are a pain to deal with. Have to be cut up for composting... Don't like to burn them, and it's too dangerous in the dry season..."