November

Tuscany Weather in November

In early November we might still have lunch outside on a sunny terrace but being the last of the autumn months, there’s a change to shorter days and it can often be grey and overcast with rain on the horizon. While November days can be quite pleasant, weather this month is unpredictable, with great variability. Being Tuscany’s wettest month, November gets over 4 inches of rain on average. Afternoon highs are at 15°C but the low is down to 7°C. With these low temperatures, you need to pack accordingly. Bring a warm waterproof jacket and sweaters to keep warm outdoors and waterproof hiking boots to be comfortable while exploring or while picking olives.

This is the Olive Picking Season

We have helped many friends with farms pick their olives in November. If you get a nice day, it can be loads of fun to be outside, combing the branches with your hand, fingers wide apart, to catch the olives and not pull off the leaves. This is work mostly done by hand, when family and friends gather to work through the olive grove, gathering for a hearty picnic or barbecue lunch for nourishment. Then we take the olives to the local press. Often we stay there well into the night since everyone is pressing olives at the same time. You stay with the olives as they get washed and chopped, then ground under stone wheels in a huge vat. Next, the pulp is spinning through the centrifuge to separate water from oil, then finally the cloudy bright green oil drizzles into your container. Beautiful stuff, the fresh oil is delicious and surprisingly piccante hot. (Average Max Temperature: 15°C and Average Precipitation: 102mm.)