THE Broken Hill olive grove has produced a bumper crop this year, according to the people who should know; the ones who had to pick them.
“We had a very good year this year, with an abundance of olives,” said Gary Ferguson, one of the four members of the co-operative known as Broken Hill Gourmet Products.
“We’re finished picking now, and pressing, and we’ve got all the oil we need for the year.”
A miner by trade, Mr Ferguson is at a loss to explain why one year’s crop might be better than another.
“Olive trees do what I’ll have trees do,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you why it was good. I could give you half a dozen theories, but they might not even be in the range of reality. I think we probably had the rain at the right time this year.”
As the Far West enters into a period of drought, one might think the olive grove could be in jeopardy, but Mr Ferguson isn’t too worried.
“We irrigate, so hopefully the drought won’t affect us,” he said. “It may make a difference, of course – it’s a very complex process, and there’s a lot of people around the world who know a lot more than I do. I just take it as it comes.”
Once bottled, the olive oil is sold locally by the RFDS, The Tourist Centre, The Deli in Chloride Steet and Top End Meats. You can also buy it online at brokenhillgourmet.com.
The grove itself, tucked along the western side of the Silver City Highway overpass, has been going strong since first planted in 2002, the olive oil produced having won awards overseas and graced tables as far away as Sydney.
“We exhibited overseas from 2010 to 2015,” Mr Ferguson said.
“We achieved silver medals at the International Taste and Quality Institute, which is more like an exhibition than a competition.
“We also exhibited once in Japan and got a silver medal there.
“So we haven’t done too badly for an old mining town.”
