Sunday, November 16, 2025
9:30 a.m. Arrivals, Tea & Coffee, Donuts
10:00 a.m. Instructions & Start Picking
12:30 p.m. Ranch-Style Barbecue
1:30 p.m. Resume Picking
4:00 p.m. Clean-Up
5:00 p.m. Start the After Party!

We hope to see you at this year’s harvest. If you can join us, then plan to arrive before Kelly’s kick-off talk at 10:00a. We’ll pick for a couple hours, break for a ranch-style barbecue, and then continue picking for a couple more hours together. By day’s end, we will have completed the harvest. It’s time to celebrate!

What are we harvesting? Twelve Frantoio olive trees inherited seven years ago from Olivina. At that time, our friend Charles was lamenting the fact that his new harvesting equipment required a wider turnaround space — the dozen of them had to be torn out of his 10,000 tree orchard. We visited the trees shortly thereafter and adopted them on the spot! Thankfully, falling in love with them before realizing exactly what is required to: 1) move twelve mature olive trees a distance of 11.6 miles and 2) organically maintain these very sexy, high maintenance, Italian beauties. (Totally worth it.)

The aroma of Frantoio oil is buttery with flavors of green grass and a peppery finish. It has an exceptionally high concentration of oleic acid and antioxidants. To prevent bitterness in the oil, however, the olives must be picked and pressed on the same day. We’ve therefore embraced the Italian approach: Gather your friends, family, and neighbors; enjoy the lingering warmth of Fall; and share a common goal as well as a hearty meal.

Everyone is welcome and every one contributes their unique offering — pickers, sorters, grill masters, photographers, storytellers, and so on. Feel free to invite your loved ones. And feel free to stay for the after party. (Our loved ones will be visiting from out of town — by 5p we’ll be diving into the leftovers, firing up the campfire, and distributing glasses to sample Kelly’s homemade plum liquor.) You’re welcome to join us.

Love,
Dirk & Kelly

P.S. Please do not wear products with “fragrance” listed in the ingredients (e.g., perfume, cologne, body spray, after shave, hair products). Even though we will be outdoors, Kelly is severely allergic to synthetic fragrance and will experience anaphylaxis if she happens to breathe it.