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The olive trees only grew on the valley side of Fallo. Olive trees are very sensitive to frost and require a milder climate. The olives were gathered by hand in November and December, sometimes even during the first snow fall. They were spread on the floor of an empty section of the cellar to allow complete ripening and drying, and then taken to one of the two olive presses in Fallo.

In the olive mill there was a huge stone wheel attached to a vertical revolving post with pivotal points, above in a horizontal beam, and below in the center of a circular and slightly conical stone structure. A donkey harnessed to a horizontal pole attached to the vertical beam pulled the stone wheel while a man pushed the olives on the path of the wheel with a small shovel. When crushed adequately, the olives were placed into circular manila rope pillow-like containers ("sport ") that were stacked in the press. One of the olive mills in Fallo had an hydraulic press, the other an ancient screw press. As the presses squeezed the crushed olives the oil would ooze out. The first oil extracted with minimal squeeze was the virgin olive oil, which was delicate and less acid. This oil was collected and stored separately. The next oil pressed was allowed to flow into a huge underground barrel partially filled with water. Later the floating oil was scooped with a copper skimming utensil. The last oil, extracted with considerable pressure, contained dark stain from the crushed olive pits and was used for oil lamps still used in some houses and in most cellars.
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During this time people went to the olive mills to pass some hours chatting with other villagers while sitting near the huge fire in which the completely pressed olives, shaped now like large slates, were burning lively. The smell in these places was a mixture of stable, olives, oil, burning oil and wood. The olive mill, the "trappiet" in dialect (from the Latin trapetus, olive press) was a warm shelter in the cool days or evenings of the approaching winter.

Another important and common event in Fallo was the killing of the family pig in January. The killing took place in the street in front of the house of the pig's owner. The squeals of the pig being killed resounded sadly until they ended slowly in a rattle. The pig was held down by five or six men on a turned wooden barrel ("tiniec") and killed with a knife. The woman of the house usually collected the fresh blood in a container, stirring it constantly to prevent coagulation. This blood later in the day was used to make the "sanguinach", a blood spread made with the pig's blood, cooked must, nuts, chocolate, sugar, fresh bread crumbs, and orange peels if available. Once the pig had died the men proceeded to burn its bristles and the outer skin with dried "ginestre" branches. They rubbed off the burned outer skin with broken pieces of bricks and finally the pig was shaved with razors and thoroughly rinsed with hot water. The hind legs were carefully slit and the tendons exposed and pulled out to allow the insertion of a wooden oak stick, slightly bent and cured, by which the pig was hoisted and hung from an iron ring usually located in