What happened next...

What happened next is that Justa kept on coming. Two big carrier bags full of eggs were found hanging on a wire above the door. Another big bag of aubergines, then another and another. The orchard was irrigated, canals dug around the trees, water flooded in from the irrigation. Justa proudly showed us the trees, grafted with a lemon and orange together. Meanwhile, we had discovered the markets and fallen in love with the huge Marcona almonds, warm and toasted in a little olive oil. And the huge olives, with a crumbly herby dressing. When we sked where they were from, we were told that they were Alorena Olives, the most famous, from the most fertile valley- Alora olives. We asked Justa about them. He said he would take us to a friend of his, who grew them. David thought we were meeting him at the factory. I thought at our house. We drove round everywhere looking for Justa and of course he was in the field behind our house waiting.. When we got to the factory David was disappointed. It was a depot cum hardware shop, with everything from hats to cultivators. We were introduced to his friend and then we were shown the olives sitting in jars in the fridge. It wasn't the exciting distillery we had hoped for, more like a shop. The jars contained small peppered olives, not the luscious gorda ones we were hunting for. David said it was a sign and no good. Justa bought us a jar as a gift and as we got back in the car he started talking about his land, his lemon trees, his 300 chickens... he said he would take us there.