Also, there are organized programs where international guests can volunteer to pick olives as well. This is particularly helpful for areas where Palestinian farmers cannot access their lands without a permit due to separation barriers or for lack of safety due to close proximity to settlements within the West Bank.
In order for olive trees to grow, they need subtropical climates that allow for mild winters that don’t go below 20ºF, and long, warm and dry summers. Additionally, they thrive best in areas that have loam soil, which is a type of soil that could have a silty, sandy and clay-like texture that retains a good amount of water for the trees. Also, olive trees are best planted at altitudes of between 600 feet to 1,600 feet above sea level, which allows for the right temperature and moisture to avoid certain diseases that affect the trees. For these reasons, I commonly see olive trees growing all over agricultural stone terraces on hills and valleys surrounding Ramallah and other cities that date back thousands of years to the Canaanites (3,300–1,000 BC). It is said that the Canaanites pioneered the use of stone terraces as a farming practice because they prevented soil erosion, retained rainwater and made it easier for farmers to cultivate their land on hillsides, which is ideal for olive trees.
Olive trees are able to survive during the hot and dry summers of the region because of their special leaves. These small leaves have a protective coating and hairy underside that slows down the process of transpiration, which is the process of water evaporation from leaves.
