How to Harvest Galega Olives with Nets and Poles

Once your sample says the Galega crop is ready, the clock starts running on fruit quality. Our old trees on the Quinta in Central Portugal were planted nearly a century ago by the parents of the previous owner, and in our first autumn we only got the fruit in because the neighbors asked why we hadn't started and we scrambled to borrow nets. Since then harvest has become something like a holiday, with family and friends under the trees, nets on the ground and rakes in the branches.

The green net is already spread under one of our old Galega trees, ladder ready by the stone house. We work one tree completely before we move on so the fruit stays clean.

If you want to harvest olives with nets and poles without crushing half the crop or damaging next year's fruiting wood, this guide walks through the gear, the nets, the canopy work and the crates that get the fruit to the press cool and whole.

This post mixes what we have seen on the Quinta with general practice for small traditional groves, so anything beyond our own trees is how small growers usually handle a hand harvest. There is a troubleshooting and FAQ section at the end, and more reading sits on our Resources page.

What You Need Before You Start

Nets or tarps should be big enough to reach past the drip line of the canopy, since olives bounce and roll, and a second set lets you prepare the next tree. Long poles, light plastic hand rakes or simple combs pull fruit off the twigs, gloves save your hands, and a sturdy ladder or a confident climber covers the high fruit. For the haul itself, rigid, perforated crates are the usual choice, along with a shady spot to stack them and a press slot booked before the first net goes down, because presses can get busy once the season is in full swing.

Tough Tip: Lay out your crates in the shade before you start shaking, so full ones never end up sitting in the sun while everyone is busy in the canopy.

Spread the Nets and Work One Tree at a Time

Clear stones and fallen branches from under the tree, then spread the nets so they overlap and run a little uphill at the edges on sloping ground, which keeps olives from rolling off into the grass. Tuck the nets around the trunk so nothing slips through the gap, and work one tree completely before you move on, because dragging half-full nets bruises fruit.

Poles, Rakes and Hands in the Canopy

The gentlest way to harvest olives with nets is to strip the fruit by hand or with a rake, combing down the twigs so the olives fall onto the net below. Long poles reach the outer and higher fruit, but they work best for tapping and shaking branches rather than thrashing them, because hard beating breaks young shoots, and those shoots carry next year's crop.

We comb the fruit off the twigs with a simple yellow olive rake so the olives drop onto the net below. Hard beating would break the young shoots that carry next year’s crop.

Galega fruit tends to hold on firmly until it is fully ripe, so a branch that refuses to give up its olives is usually better left for a second pass than beaten bare. Mechanical trunk shakers are also a poor match for Galega, so small groves are still picked mostly by hand.

We work mostly with simple olive rakes, adding a homemade wooden extension when the fruit is out of reach, and a neighbor who lets us look after his trees lends us his equipment, including the 10 by 10 m (33 by 33 ft) nets we spread under ours. MuDan doesn't wait for ladders and climbs straight into the canopy to reach what the rakes miss. She also leads the pruning on our land, which is why we skip structural olive pruning in early autumn and save shaping for late winter.

Keep Boots Off the Fruit

On a net harvest, most of the damaged fruit comes from people stepping on olives rather than from the picking itself, so we try hard to avoid stepping on the fallen olives. Walk only on the edges or on bare patches of net, gather olives toward the middle with your hands or a rake, and empty the nets into crates often instead of letting a thick layer build up underfoot. A crushed olive starts to ferment within hours and can taint the rest of the crate.

MuDan sits on the net sorting the fallen olives and clearing cut branches so we never walk on the fruit. Everything that stays clean on the net goes to the press.

Tough Tip: Ask when you book whether the press wants leaves and twigs picked out, since many presses clean them off for you while others prefer fairly clean fruit.

Crates, Not Sacks: How to Pack Olives for the Press

Rigid, perforated crates are the standard for good oil because they keep the fruit from being crushed under its own weight and let air move around it, while sacks and plastic bags trap heat and moisture and start fermentation fast. Shallow crates are usually better than deep ones, since the bottom layer has to carry everything above it without bruising, and stacks with room for air to flow should stay in the shade.

Everything that comes down onto our nets during the harvest goes to the press, and we only pick out the odd leaves and small bits of old olive wood, while fruit that has lain on bare ground for days or in mud is usually lower quality. Rules also differ from press to press, as a friend found out when he came with us to a press in Spain and the olives he had filled into plastic bags that morning were refused, so ask your press about its rules before harvest day.

Tough Tip: Skip washing clean olives straight off the nets, since it can strip flavor and keeping quality from the oil.

Keep Them Cool, Dry and Moving

Olives start to lose quality once they leave the tree, so the usual advice is to get them to the press within about a day, and some presses won't accept fruit that has waited more than two.

Pick on dry days whenever you can, since wet fruit ferments much faster, and avoid scooping up soil or mud with the olives, which can leave a musty taste in the oil.

Tough Tip: Book your press slot first and plan the harvest around it, rather than picking everything and then hunting for a free spot while the crates wait.

How We Harvest on the Quinta

Our harvest is a family and friends affair rather than a race, and it runs on a simple rhythm: borrowed nets down, olive rakes and the wooden extension working the branches, MuDan up in the tree for the high fruit, and the crop heading to the village press, which like most presses here does a cold press.

We work the canopy with rakes and a ladder while MuDan climbs for the high fruit; the green net catches everything that comes down. One tree at a time keeps the haul from bruising.

We always press together with friends so the batch reaches the press's 400 kg (880 lb) minimum, which usually means exactly 400 kg, and the oil we get back varies with the year and the harvest timing. One stubborn afternoon with nets and rakes brought in about 160 kg (350 lb) from just two trees, and that haul became 15 to 16 liters (about 4 gallons) of golden-green oil, while last year we harvested only about 80 kg (175 lb) and still got about 13 liters (about 3.5 gallons).

The day’s Galega fruit, still mixed with a few leaves, ready for the crates. We pick out only the odd leaves and bits of old wood before the load goes to the press.

That oil ends up in our kitchen, on our skin and in homemade soap. Once the harvest is in, propagating olives from heel cuttings makes a good winter project.

Herman's Tough Kraut Fixes: Common Challenges When You Harvest Olives with Nets

Most harvest-day problems come down to fruit getting crushed or sitting too long, so this short troubleshooting and FAQ section covers the questions that come up most often under the nets.

Q: How big should olive harvest nets be?

A: Big enough to reach a little past the edge of the canopy on every side, and two or more overlapping nets are usually easier to handle than one huge sheet.

Q: Will beating the branches with poles hurt my olive tree?

A: Hard beating breaks the young shoots that carry next year's fruit, so tap and shake rather than thrash.

Q: Can I store olives in sacks overnight before pressing?

A: It is better not to, because sacks trap heat and moisture and the fruit starts to ferment, which can give the oil a fusty taste. Use ventilated crates in the shade and press soon.

Q: Should I wash olives before taking them to the press?

A: Clean olives straight off the nets usually don't need washing, which can lower the oil's flavor and keeping quality, so we just pick out leaves and bits of wood. Fruit that has sat in mud or on bare ground for days is lower quality.

Final Thoughts on How to Harvest Olives with Nets

To harvest olives with nets and poles, set the nets wide and tight around one tree at a time, work the canopy with rakes, hands and gentle taps rather than hard beating, keep boots off the fruit, and pack the olives into shaded, ventilated crates that reach the press within about a day. On the Quinta that routine has become something like a holiday, with family and friends under the old Galega trees, MuDan up in the canopy and a year of oil at the end of it. Part 1 of this series covers how to tell when the crop is ready, and Part 3 will look at the local mills where small growers can press their own olives.

Read more in our Galega olive profile, and join the Kraut Crew to get infos and updates about our Quinta life.