Olive Growing

In 2002, a 12-acre grove on our Panton Hill farm was prepared for olive trees. This acreage had, several decades earlier, been an apple orchard. More recently it was used as grass pasture for beef cattle, so the ground needed some nutrients and a ph balancing. The whole paddock was ploughed and the eventual olive tree rows were deep ripped. As part of this preparation, a mixture of chook manure, lime and basalt crusher dust was added. In November (2002) 1000 trees were planted, each with a dedicated tree sprinkler, fed by dam water, and a stake to support the growing tree. Since then we have concentrated on cultivating healthy trees and judicous pruning.