ISLAND LIFE

Harvesting 300kg to 500kg of olives daily by hand at Glendale Olive Grove is a monumental but rewarding task, says Christine Mann, the owner of Tasmania’s second-largest olive grove, who began harvesting the fruit from 9000 trees on 15ha at White Hill two weeks ago.

“It’s probably the easiest part of making olive oil,” Mann says. “It’s physical work, but mentally it’s very easy. It’s rewarding because you see a tree full of olives and then 10 minutes later you have a tree with very few olives left on.

“The trees and olives vary in size. Some varieties are quite small and we have trouble keeping them in the crate.”

Mann, pictured here showing an earlyharvest mixed crop of olives including the Italian Frantoio variety, uses a 12-volt rake to release the olives, which are captured in a large container. “The rake has a long handle with two 20cm-long fingers and you stick that into a tree and it vibrates,” she says. “The motion of the fingers release the olives off the tree.”

Mann, a land surveyor, bought the award-wining grove near Launceston in 2013. It was planted in 2005 in a hedgerow system to allow for mechanical harvesting in the future.

Her olive oil products are sold locally at stores including the Hill Street Grocer, and people can pick their own at Glendale Olive Grove by appointment. “In future years, I should have a mini press so people can see their own olives being pressed and made into olive oil,” she says.