The olive grove containing 200 trees was not the drawcard when Naomi and Mark Hill bought their Branxholme property, but it has provided a challenge they have come to enjoy. RICK BAYNE has the story.
In 2015, Naomi and Mark Hill bought a property near Branxholme in south-west Victoria for the nice house and trees and 40 hectares of land suitable for a small flock of sheep.
It just happened to come with an olive grove.
Neither Naomi, an occupational therapist by trade, nor Mark, who works in agriculture and manages a nearby farm, knew anything about olives, but the trees were just coming into their prime and they were willing to learn.
Nearly a decade later, the 200 olive trees continue to thrive and create a popular extra virgin olive oil.
The bulk of the land is used for cross-bred lambs but the small olive grove has become Naomi’s domain and she enjoys the challenge of producing and picking a good crop, even if she is an accidental olive grower.
“In 2015 we bought the house and 100 acres and the olive grove was part of that land. It wasn’t something that we were looking purposely to purchase,” she said.
“Mark works in agriculture and has a background in science but that was more about growing grass, not olive trees. We had no specific knowledge about olive trees.”
The trees had been planted in 2000 and had been well maintained, each supported by a sprinkler system.
“They were only 15 years old when we took over and starting to come into their prime,” Naomi said.
“They were very well looked after and well set up.”
Mark and Naomi got information and advice from the previous owners, spoke to a few different regional growers and also consulted The Olive Centre based in Queensland.
“I’ve had a few phone calls with The Olive Centre when I had specific questions about what was happening with the trees and how we could best look after them,” Naomi said.
Naomi was a fast learner and the grove has maintained a good output.
Ideally, the trees should be pruned regularly.
“They are like apple or fruit trees that have an on-season and an off-season,” Naomi said.
“They don’t all produce olives every year, so that’s a bit of a challenge. This year is quite good with a lot of olives on the trees, but other years there are not many trees in their on-season so you have to pick off what you can.”
The trees also seem to like predictable seasons.
“Winters that aren’t too wet or summers that haven’t got too hot or dry seem to impact on their productivity,” Naomi said.
“There was one year with really intense hot weather early in the summer and that did a lot of damage to the little flowers.”
They’ve also had to deal with a black sooty mold.
“The Olive Centre was really helpful with the best plan of action and the best product to use to spray them,” Naomi said.
“That had an impact on production but they recovered really well once we treated it.”
The olives are picked once a year, generally in June, although that depends on finding an olive presser to turn them into oil.
Picking is a family and friends affair, and something the Hills particularly enjoy sharing with their three children.
“It’s not too labour intensive,” Naomi said.
“We have a nice lunch and it’s an opportunity to be outside doing something together.”
There are local pressers that combine small batches into one big amount with suppliers getting a percentage of the oil, but Naomi wants a product unique to their farm.
“We want to have our olives pressed separately so we know it’s our oil,” she said.
“We have to travel a bit further but it’s worth it. The grove isn’t big enough to invest commercially in our own equipment but it’s big enough to warrant what we do.”
The olives are picked by hand, using a specific olive rake to comb them off the trees onto mats on the ground. The olives are then collected into a container and taken to the presser who grinds them into a pulp to separate the oil.
The result is Tarcoola extra virgin olive oil, named after the property.
Tarcoola isn’t stocked in any commercial outlets because the Hills find they have barely enough to sell to friends, family and regular private buyers.
“We produce about 200 litres so we don’t have enough to go too commercial,” Naomi said.
“It’s not necessarily a great financial business but we cover our costs and we have a local product that is delicious in comparison to what you can buy in a supermarket.”
No chemicals or sprays are used in the grove.
The grove has two types of olive trees — Manzanillo, whose olives are typically larger and have a milder flavour, and frantoio.
Manzanillo is a good all-rounder olive with a good balance of flesh and seed, making it suitable for pickling to eat and pressing for oil.
Frantoio olives have a larger seed and higher oil content, making them most suitable for pressing for oil.
The difference between a green and black olive is the ripeness.
“They start green and go darker as they ripen,” Naomi said.
“The later you pick them, the higher the olive oil content, though the flavour may be less strong.”
This year’s crop has been plentiful, although the dry conditions may impact on the oil output. The grove usually achieves a maximum oil content of about 14 per cent.
Naomi has no plans for expansion but wants to continue pressing the olives and sharing their oil.
“I like the opportunity to learn something new and to have something you can share with other people,” she said.
“I keep learning more about how we can take better care of the soil or do other things to make them more productive and a better-quality product.”
Recently Naomi has been focusing on pruning, especially as the trees are quite big.
Branxholme seems to be a hot spot for olive groves.
“There was a bit of a project with the Branxholme community to plant olive groves,” Naomi said.
“There are a few other similar sized groves around here and at one point there was talk of putting in a Branxholme community press. It was unfortunate it didn’t go ahead.”