Another olive harvest has been completed. It is very satisfying each year to produce fresh organic olive oil from the grove. I suppose the process of hand picking off the trees and watching the oil emerge from the fruit in a simple extraction process is one that connects to our very essence….people have been doing just that each year from time immemorial. The oil is now in the vats waiting to be sent to folk who appreciate a fresh, local and premium quality product.

The farm seems to recognise that harvest time is special. Each year as we pick the grove the animals seem to respond by the farm by introducing new arrivals. This year was no exception. Angel the donkey surprised us all, and the vet, with delivery of twins. They are seriously cute, incredibly active and inquisitive. Not to be outdone Luna and Sherlock the Great Danes proudly presented us with puppies…who seem to be receiving miracle milk from mum given their growth rates. To top it off the black Dexter herd surprised us even more with an arrival of a throw-back. A red calf arrived from a herd that has not been other than black for at least three generations! At first we thought a droughtmaster calf from neighbouring properties had been adopted.

Now that the olive harvest is behind us, it is now time to focus on tea production. The plantation has been mulched and the solar dryer overhauled. The tea bushes are ready for trimming after their flowering season….lines of tea bushes covered in their Camelia flowers is a wonderful sight. Soon we will have the tea and our popular blends with olive leaf, lemon myrtle, ginger or turmeric ready for your cuppa.

From our place to yours,

The Johnson family.