A spot of “Tuscan landscape of longing”
in the midst of Kaiserstuhl vines
“By planting some vineyards and terraces in a picturesque location that are no longer planted, I was able to fulfill my wish to develop the area in Ihringer Bühl by planting two olive groves - their beautiful appearance with the gnarled, 80 to 100-year-old trees and the foliage shining silver in the wind opens up an immersive, Mediterranean-style view over vines, cypress and olive trees. The planting of almost 80 trees should also provide the opportunity to produce substantial quantities of olive oil under favorable conditions.”
This is a pioneer cultivation, as it was not possible to plant a comparable olive grove with an oil yield north of the Alps, partly due to the previous climatic conditions.
CLIMATE CHANGE
The weather conditions are also changing in the Kaiserstuhl towards a Mediterranean, more arid climate. After 4 years, the trees have now established a good root system, which gives them the stability to cope with generally adverse winter and summer weather conditions. However, the increasing wind from various directions (formerly westerly winds) is also not favorable for the olive tree, which is sensitive in this respect. The new problem with regard to budding and olive development is therefore no longer low temperatures or drought, but, among other things, the early warmth of the year, which triggers the flow of sap and the onset of shoot growth, so that the latter remain at risk until mid-May if the risk of frost remains unchanged (cf. viticulture).
While vines and figs are leafless and dormant in winter, the olive tree, as an evergreen, remains at risk during the annual transition periods and in winter. In particular, the olive tree can hardly cope with the increasingly frequent extreme temperature changes of up to 25C within a few days and reacts with leaf fall or even total loss. Young trees can hardly compensate for this in terms of energy, but in any case it leads to reduced blossom/fruit set and even complete crop failure.
“Taking these aspects into account, commercial olive cultivation in Germany appears to be considerably risky due to climate change - contrary to expectations, it is not a sure-fire success.”
