Exploring Croatia: Olive Harvesting In Gradac

I wrote this piece while sitting at the Apfel Arena cafe in Makarska. While writing, I couldn’t help but overhear the conversations around me. And EVERY conversation included, at least once, the mention of ‘masline’ (olives).

Not a surprise… ’tis the season in Croatia.

Olive harvesting season!

Olive tree. Gradac, Croatia

Over the last two weeks, I spent three days picking olives in Gradac, a coastal town 40 km south of Makarska. 

Why? 

Because I live in Croatia and want to spend as much time outside as possible. 

Also, this is my adventure, so I decide what I want to do. 

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I moved to Croatia, excited to start a new chapter and adventure. 

And when my friend told me about her parent's olive grove - with 72 olive trees! - I offered to help during olive harvesting season.

I’m the new kid on the block. Sign me up for almost everything.

For three days, I joined my friend’s family, picking olives to be pressed for the year's batch of olive oil. 

The exercise was straightforward for the pickers: from morning till sundown, pick the olives from the branches, and place them in a basket. 

My friend’s father had an electric olive harvesting machine for those harder-to-reach spots. When the machine came out, we stood out of the way, and the machine shook the olives off the branches.

MOST times, the olives landed on the tarp. A few times: flying olives.

For three days, I spent the day outside, working with my hands, focused on an activity that families have been doing for generations. 

I spent the days with my friends and their family; being around them was fun and good for the soul.

I ate well.

One memorable lunch included fresh fish caught that morning in Ploče. I have NEVER had more delicious fish!

I accomplished something meaningful.

I have no idea how much was picked, but I was gifted several bottles of olive oil. And mandarins the size of oranges. I think that’s a win!

I was disconnected from most modern technology—no sitting at a laptop for this activity. Of course, I used my iPhone to take photos.

For those three days, I was not working from a laptop, which felt so good!

Olives! Gradac, Croatia

Yes, there is more to the process.

There’s the olive press process.

I didn’t see the facility this year. I am looking forward to seeing how that piece works another time. Yes, I know I can Google it. But, um, it’s not the same.

There’s a sense of community- friends and families coming together to complete a task. Days they are spent together, talking, listening to music, eating, and celebrating hard work.

I know there are many olive-picking experiences out there geared toward tourists. And I am sure I would have enjoyed any one of those experiences. But I am glad I spent three days with friends on their family land, helping them pick olives.

Maybe because I wanted a place I could return to and uncover more stories about the process and the people.

Maybe because sometimes, telling a meaningful story requires connection and takes time.

Olive tree. Gradac, Croatia.

Generations of families have taken part in olive harvesting in Croatia.

And for a few days, I got to experience one small part of the process. 

I am grateful for the experience and have signed up for next year. This is not a one-and-done. There’s more to this story…

Fun Fact:

There is an olive tree in Croatia, on the island of Brijuni, that is 1,600 years old.

Click here to read more about that unique olive tree.

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