Starting Vitex agnus castus, chastetree fruit collection

So then we started the collection of chastetree fruit. We collect on the south side of the island, starting from when the seeds are ripe.. this collection, is our most timeconsuming.. we collect for weeks and weeks... with a few breaks for some day-collections and distillations of other herbs...

Well, later on, had a visit from Ina Hviding, a Norwegian aromatherapist.. She had been on on of our aromatic fieldcourses here on Crete many many years ago, and now wanted to come and spend two weeks with us, in these busy times in order to learn more about aromatic plants, their wild habitats, about collection and distillation..

We started off in Kallikratis, our place in the moutains of Sfakia at 750m altitude, Ina stayed in our guestroom with a view of the surrounding mountains..

The next day we went down to the south coast for Vitex agnus castus fruit collection.. the way down there is best described by these pictures Ina took, and which I am using here with her permission..

First her view from the car, as we embark onto this magnificent road..a piece of art, it covers a difference in altitude of over 800m in only 6km with the help of 26 steep U-turns..

Then comes an overview over some of these turns, seen from above..

This road is absolutely spectacular...Some people, however, have to get used to it a bit, before they truly can appreciate...

And then, just 20 minutes later, we are down by the sea, and drive towards our chastetree plants.. looking back we see the road winding up the mountain, the road we just came down on winding like a snake...

And before us, a chastetree population with ripe fruits, ready to collect... here its Ina cutting

And here Janina and Joscha... Harvest has begun.. Again, all pictures except the one of herself, were taken by Ina Hviding..

More about Vitex, chastetree collection later, and more pictures to come