In early May I took 12 students from the Chatham University graduate program in creative writing to Spain. We stayed at Hort de Gloria near the village of Sella about 40 minutes from Alicante. We hiked and rock climbed, kayaked in the sea, visited Grenada and worked on the organic farm.
We decided that pruning olive trees was much like writing a poem; a lot of hard work, all about paring down, and shape. You choose your cuts carefully. Ultimately you have trimmed through the mess of branches and leaves to something that will yield a more satisfying harvest. Always a work in progress.
