The children and I went on a field trip to a local olive canning warehouse. For all the years of married life I've enjoyed living in my city, I can't believe I never set foot in this historical site until this year.
The
Graber Olive House has been in business since 1894. What remains of the location where we met is the packing house. They have since moved their olive orchard to the San Joaquin Valley.
We had a very gracious and informative guide.
Because of its age which has allowed for several additions the original buildings, there were many wonderful nooks and crannies.
I peeked through one hole and saw this. What would follow, I wondered?
Once the olives are brought from San Joaquin Valley, they are sorted by size.
The olives are sorted by this humongous machine.
Cables determine into which slot they fall.
The building and the machinery are sturdy and old. Even the radio is "old-school" with the turn-dial and broken casing held by brown duct tape.
The inviting tool room...
After the olives are sorted by size, they are placed in brining barrels. This also helps to remove the tannins that make raw olives not so tasty.
They are then weighed
and packed.
This is the canning area where the olives are received.
The cans are sterilized.
Then, they are labeled.
After the tour, we were led to the store.
While I did not buy anything that day, I certainly have bought my fair share when the budget allowed!
Other gourmet foods were sold there, including dried fruit and snacks.
Of course, the kids had to be posed for their group shot.
I like this one the best because so many of the little ones were grabbing something--their face, their sibling, an olive can label. Gotta love children.
They of course got to loosen their legs in the park area in front of the store.
We slipped back into our car with another sweet memory of life in this part of our world. Thank God for life's simple pleasures of food, friendship, and local history.
The trees hugged us on our way out.
