First mechanised harvest work in our olive grove

At this time of year, it is normal to talk about planting or sowing... but whenever you plant, you harvest, which is what happens with olive groves. The last harvest we do throughout the year is the olive harvest (the work we show you is from December) and for us, on this occasion, it is a milestone as it is the first time we have done mechanised harvesting in our olive grove... quite an advance!

Until now, we have always harvested manually, as the olives on one tree were not yet producing. Last year, these one tree olive trees were harvested, but we did it manually so as not to damage the trunks, as they were a bit thin. This year, we decided to mechanise harvesting work, and it has been a complete success.

It has been a great success, as it significantly reduces the time required and because mechanised harvesting is cheaper than doing it manually. In terms of time, we completed the harvest in two days, whereas previously it took us almost four days. As for costs, manual harvesting costs us 0.2€/kg, whereas mechanisation has reduced this to 0.08€/kg. This cost can even be improved when we have higher production, as the olive trees are young and production is set to increase in the coming years.

Finally, we would like to thank Juan Pedro for his excellent work operating the harvesting machine (umbrella).

Versión en español.

Sunflower Harvesting and our 15th Anniversary

One of the last harvesting tasks of the year is sunflower harvesting, which usually takes place in September and October (though in recent years it has been happening earlier, and in our area it now almost always occurs in September). The final harvest of the year will be the olive groves in December.

However, in this post, we’re not only talking about sunflower harvesting — we’re also especially excited because we’re celebrating 15 years of publishing content on our blogs!

On 12 October 2010, we published our very first post, dedicated to the sunflower harvest — you can see it at this link. Since then, we’ve shared our work and that of many friends through several posts each month, always accompanied by photo reports and, in many cases, videos published on our YouTube channel.

It’s also worth noting that our first video was uploaded to YouTube on 20 November 2008. Since then, we’ve published 517 posts, written in both Spanish and English.

We want to thank all of you for following us, reading us, and sending in content to keep our blog alive. We also extend our gratitude to our sponsors, who help us sustain this project and often lend us their products so we can test them in the field — always independently and free of charge.

As for this year’s sunflower harvest, yields were quite low, as usual. Sunflower is a crop we sow in May and harvest in September, which means it goes through the driest months of the year. From sowing to harvest, it hardly rains at all.

This summer was particularly harsh, with extremely high temperatures throughout August, causing severe water stress on the plants. Yields have averaged around 800 kg/ha, and with a rather low price (around €450/tonne), it has turned out to be a poorly profitable crop.

We continue to sow sunflowers because they are part of our eco-friendly crop rotation system, but in practice, it has become a residual crop in our area due to the increasingly dry and hot summers of recent years.

Versión en español.

Harvest 2025. Cereals and pulse vegetables

In the middle of the harvest season, work progresses day by day with the aim of harvesting all the grain in our fields as soon as possible to avoid potential problems—mainly caused by summer storms and hail.

In terms of results, it has been an extraordinary year. Following last year’s record cereal yields, this season promises similarly exceptional performance. And why is the main reason? Because we have had a very wet winter and spring (around 420mm in 2025). Normally, average barley yields are about 3,500 kg/ha; last year we reached 5,700 kg/ha, and this year we expect a similar figure… although we cannot confirm it definitively until harvesting is complete.

As for legumes, which is another of the main crops in the rotation, they have fared a bit differently. Lentil pods failed to develop fully—likely due to a brief heatwave—yielding about 800 kg/ha, which remains a strong result. Peas continue to be steadfast, averaging 1,000 kg/ha, though their market price does not command the premium that lentils do.

We’re in the thick of harvest and remain optimistic. We hope for a very good harvesting campaign for everyone!

Versión en español.