May in the Olive Gove

This month is all about preparing for harvesting your olive trees. Organising harvesters, either mechanical or manual, gathering equipment like nets, bins, trailers, oil containers. Clearing under your trees of weeds, grass, etc. Animals should have exited last month.

Monitor your fruit for ripeness using the Colour Maturity Index in last month’s newsletter (and again below). Check the inside flesh colour for changes. You will get the best oil percentage return if your fruit is CMI 5-7 but balance that with the flavour profile you like. More ripeness means a softer flavour and more oil whereas less ripe fruit will have a more robust taste but probably less volume.

Press opening and bookings
 
We will be taking bookings from 8 May but the press will not be open for pressing until 22 May. The last date for receival of fruit and close down will be 2 July.

As usual, first read the Supplier Responsibilities Form to remind yourself of requirements.

To make a booking, you will need to fill out a Supplier Declaration Form and email that through to the Booking Co-Ordinator at [email protected] together with your proposed delivery date, time and anticipated volume of fruit. The Booking Co- ordinator will then negotiate a delivery time.

When you deliver your fruit bring in your Supplier Delivery/Collection Form (this is really important for contact details and invoicing) and your receptacles for oil. These must be clean, clearly labelled to link to your Supplier Delivery/Collection Form and either stainless steel or food grade plastic. Glass is unacceptable.

Fruit delivered should be freshly harvested (ideally within 24 hours), clean and free from excessive leaf, twig, dirt, grass, etc. Excessive leaf/twig will necessitate processing through the leaf blower before pressing and that will incur extra cost. This will be assessed at weigh-in  on delivery.

If you deliver fruit in large a 300-400kg bin it should have slots/feet for the forklift to lift and tip from a height. Smaller delivery volumes can be tipped into onsite bins on arrival for weighing.

300kg is the minimum volume to guarantee your own olives pressed separately. Those with smaller volumes will go into a combined pressing with other small growers. The Booking Co-ordinator will arrange these times. You will get an oil return proportional to the volume you delivered.

When you pick up your oil you will be given a Pressing Receipt which is your record of your volume delivered, fruit quality and oil extracted. You will be invoiced separately later.

Pressing rates remain the same as the last year at $1.00/kg plus GST for shareholders (proportional to their shareholding) and $1.50/kg plus GST for non shareholders/casuals. The charge for leaf blowing is .50cents/kg plus GST.

Looking forward to a fruitful harvest with no curve balls this year!! Let’s hope the Autumn/Winter weather obliges with cool, clear, calm days without rain (and no frost either). 

​Happy harvesting!