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<pre>*This message was transferred with a trial version of CommuniGate(tm) Pro*

Here in Liguria rarely we go under 0C - 32F, but I ask our farmers:

0C (32F) - olives becomes wrinkled and rough (we call them "olive rapate")
-5C (23F) - the tree is damaged
-10C (14F) - main branches are gone

However nobody here uses protection against cold, because our mountains
save us from Northern wind, and olive groves are placed only on the
southern slope of hills ("al domestico", on the "tamed" side). The wild
side ("al selvatico"), facing North, is just for wildhogs hunting.
I'm just thinking we have a lot of stone walls on our hills: they are very
thick (sometimes 90 cm - 3 ft.), so maybe they accumulate heat during the
day (sun hours: 8 am - 4 pm) releasing it, slowly, in the night and saving
our trees from cold.
Is somebody here able to calculate calories accumulated by 15 stone walls
90 cm thick, 2 mt high and 100 mt long (an average hectare of taggiasca trees)?
I suppose it's a lot, and moreover it's free and don't pollute ;-)

Bye!

Marco Bernardini
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<pre>One of our grove is a 250 tree x 55 year old plantation right in the middle
of Harcourt in Victoria, Australia. This particular area is well known for
it's frosts, particularly the late ones. Last year the grapes were wiped
out (at least 90%) by one particular frost - and a great loss it was too as
the area produces heavenly, full bodied reds. In any event our olives were
not bothered in the least as they have been peacefully growing beneath 100'
walls of granite in a quarry. As a heat sink I would highly recommend!

Perhaps we should create such heat sinks for our groves? Stonehenge Olives.

> Is somebody here able to calculate calories accumulated by 15 stone walls
> 90 cm thick, 2 mt high and 100 mt long (an average hectare of taggiasca
trees)?
> I suppose it's a lot, and moreover it's free and don't pollute ;-)
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