BEFORE BLOOM

As May draws to a close, the olive groves enter a phase marked by quiet anticipation. The air feels still, though full of potential. The trees stand calm but alert, their buds tightly formed, waiting for the right moment to open. This in-between state, neither dormant nor yet in bloom, demands a different kind of attention. It is one of the most sensitive periods in the annual cycle of the grove.

Flowering is the olive tree’s brief window for reproduction, and it plays a defining role in the season to come. Unlike many fruit trees, olives are largely wind-pollinated. Their tiny white flowers, often overlooked in their delicacy, produce no nectar and attract few insects. Instead, the trees release immense quantities of pollen into the air, relying on dry, stable weather to carry it from flower to flower. Too much rain or wind, or an untimely drop in temperature, can prevent pollination altogether. The entire yield can be affected within a matter of days.

We monitor this period closely but act minimally, walking the groves every day, paying attention to the mood of the trees and the subtleties of their progress - how one variety may be ahead of another, or how flowering shifts with changes in altitude, soil, or exposure. Each season is different, and each tree responds in its own way.

There is nothing mechanical about this process. Flowering does not follow a strict calendar. It depends on the memory of the soil, the weather of the last weeks, and the resilience of the tree itself. The work now is not about intervention, but presence. In biodynamic farming, this is where observation becomes its own kind of responsibility. There is a rhythm to respect, not just in what we do, but in how and when we choose not to act.

Soon, the groves will shift again. The buds will open, the flowers will fall, and the season will take its next step forward. But for now, we wait.