THE Broken Hill Gourmet Products Co-Operative is expecting a bumper crop of olives this year, with harvest at the 600-tree olive grove set for around Easter.
Chair of the co-op Steve Flecknoe-Brown said members are expecting an excellent autumn crop this year, a positive change following a small yield in 2024.
Mr Flecknoe-Brown said the reason for the difference in harvest could be due to an alternate bearing cycle.
“If there is a very good crop one year, the tree uses all its energy to support the fruit and doesn’t form many fruiting buds for the next season,” he said.
“Orchards are very familiar with this. This is why they prune every year and reduce the size of their crop to exactly the right size so they’ll get exactly the same size crop every year in good conditions.”
Mr Flecknoe-Brown said the soil in the region is very rich in minerals.
“It’s very rich in minerals, and then those minerals come through to give a very rich flavour to the fruit,” he said.
“That’s why we’ve won prizes when we’ve entered our olive oil in European shows.
“Our oil is lovely, particularly due to those mineral rich soils.
“The secret for us has been always working on a small scale.
“We have a small press which is gentle, very gentle, because it doesn’t have to get through a ton of olives an hour.
“So we will pick between 400 and 700 kilograms of olives in the morning by about 10am, and a few crates will go over to the shed and the press will start.
“All of the olives are pressed within 24 hours and, in fact, most of them within the same day that they’re picked, which makes them snapping fresh with a beautiful aroma.”
The predicted bumper crop comes just in time, as not much of the 2023 pressing of olive oil remains.
“We’ve only got a little bit of the 2023 left, and we didn’t make any in 2024,” he said.
Mr Flecknoe-Brown wants to remind people the grove is still producing, and the opportunity to help out in harvest season is up for grabs.
”We’re first of all reminding people that yes we’re still here, 22 years later, and that yes, the olive grove is still producing olives, and yes, your trees in your backyard or on your nature strip are still treasured assets of the town,” he said.
“If anybody wants to join us, we would be delighted to show them, to walk them through the whole process and to have their assistance.”
