Olivery News — olives

With Harvest fast approaching (May) we are starting to asses how the olives are doing.  Big change this year, I am measuring the olives and recording their size.  This is to give a benchmark for future years as to where the olives are at.  I hope to make better growing and harvest decisions as a result.  The ultimate objective is to grow larger olives by changing the variables on the grove. This picture show the Manzanillo tree at the Olivery.  At 19mm it is a big fruit for this time of year.  The average width is around 16mm. Good tree...

What's up on the grove?.   We've had one of the best springs for 25 years.  It has been warm, regular rain and gentle winds.  This has facilitated a fantastic fruit set on the trees.  (Fruit set is a terms used for the conversion of flowers to fruit.)  so things so far are looking good.  The last couple of weeks have had some severe Hail storms in the Hawke's Bay.  This has damaged some fruit crops.  We have been lucky in that they have missed our olive groves. The transplanted Kalamata Olives (right) are starting to grow with little shoots...

Telegraph Hill extra virgin olive oil features in the new e-book Remarkable Recipes by international olive oil expert Judy Ridgway.  It is used in the recipes for Feta and Olive Dip And for Telegraph Hill Fish and Chips.  Judy remembers with nostalgia her very first visit to New Zealand when she stayed in a cottage on the estate and enjoyed an excellent dinner with Rose Gresson, then running the Telegraph Hill groves. All 76 recipes in the book come from olive growers and olive oil producers around the world because, as Judy says, who knows more about cooking with extra...

Time will tell whether this was a good decision or not.  I've moved every second Kalamata tree to increase the space it has to grow, so that it will grow larger, produce more fruit and be happier! First we had to chop the tops off them. This ones ready to move.  We labelled each one to keep track of the adopted trees.  Dig them up with a digger.   Plant them in pre dug holes.    Some water and this olive tree is ready to grow.    Unfortunately some didn't make it.  This one we ring barked so we decided...