Hello Darling!

No, it's not a new way of greeting you, my dear reader! Read on!

What do these things have in common?

Jam, marmalade, chutney, paste, bath salts, soap, hand cream, bread, and chocolate? To name but a few!

Some of the products.

They are all the by-product of olives! As well as oil and the actual fruit. But if I had said oil and fruit, it would have been too easy! I know that I have mentioned the Darling Olive products before and showed a photo of some of the them, but I wanted to write again about the farm as we went there on Wednesday to buy more oil, and of course came away with a few more things as well! We were on our way to meet friends for lunch in Yzerfontein, so Darling is a short detour away!

The pressing building where the oil is stored in huge vats. The shop and tasting room are here too.

I was always under the impression  that olives are picked by hand. A net is spread under the tree and then everyone gathers round with special poles (and scarves over their heads to prevent bugs falling in their hair) and shakes the tree until the fruit falls! Then, exhausted but happy, they all sit under said tree and enjoy a lunch of wine and bread and olive oil, before gathering up the fallen fruit and heading off, either to sleep off the effects of lunch, or to the next tree!

Picking by hand. (Pic thanks to Google)

I was wrong! As we stopped at the farm, we saw a strange tractor-type thing trundling up the farm road, so I took a photo (see below), and we asked the lady in the shop.

The mechanical way of doing it now.

It is an olive picker! I guess with 70 hectares of olives all ready to pick at the same time, and all processed within 24 hours of picking, there is no time to fiddle faddle with one tree at a time! This machine actually covers the tree and shakes it to remove the fruit, so it can harvest the entire orchard (forest? Bunch? What is a group of olive trees called? Note to self, Google it!) in one go. Or maybe a few days.

The tasting room, pates, jams, marmalades and oils. 

The olives are harvested between April and June, and the pressing is done on the farm. An interesting fact about olive oil is that it should be stored in a dark glass bottle and kept in a dark cupboard, as oils in clear glass exposed to light at room temperature can go flat in two months and rancid shortly afterwards.

Rob with olive oil to keep us going! Only one tin is ours!

We buy our oil in 5 litre tins, and drink a small glass every morning (when we remember!) It is a monosaturated heart-healthy fat and is loaded with antioxidants to help protect heart and blood cells from damage. And, it may also aid weight loss and help with pain relief. Double bonus! I can't remember if it helps memory though!

But mostly we drink it because we love the taste! Peppery with a lovely aroma and flavour of newly mown grass.

Oh, and a lot of olive trees are called........................a Grove!