Water for olive trees with Windmills TARRAGÓ

Montblanc, 10.04.2012. Olive trees are evergreen trees that produce olive oil. In caring for an olive plant, water is the most important ingredient. Correct watering practices encourage plant growth more than fertilizer. This has been well understood by the Family of Daniel Sala Bonet in Vinaixa, a small city of 600 inhabitants in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain.

Daniel Sala’s family is an autonomous producer of olive oil of the rare sort “Arbequines” characterized for having one of the highest concentrations of oil (20 to 22%). Arbequines are cultivated in a total area of 55,000 hectares only around the world, mainly in Catalonia in its alkaline soils. Oils made from Arbequina are generally buttery, fruity, and very mild in flavor, being low in polyphenols.

Daniel Sala’s Windmill , located at the coordinates (X: 332632,8; Y: 4589405,8), pumps water to 700 adult trees in a land of 3,09 hectares. After the collection during the first cold weeks of November, Sala’s family brings the olives to the local cooperative, an autonomous association of persons in Vinaixa who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit.

During the months in which the trees do not need to be watered, the pumped water is collected in a galvanized tank of 150 m3 capacity (and a diameter of 7,6m with a total height of approximately 3,5m).