Harvest Report 2023
Snapshot
Grove Size: 15 Acres
Olive Varieties: Corrigiola, Lucinao, Frantoio, Verdale
Harvest Started: 11th May 2023
Harvest Ended: 22nd May 2023
Total Yield: 11 Tonne (1000 litres)
Full Report
The 2022-23 growing season was wetter and colder than usual which led to slightly less ripeness of the olives when harvested and slightly less volume. We were fortunate though to have managed the wet conditions well and avoided Peacock Spot and Anthracnose, both of which are problematic diseases that are prevalent in wet conditions.
Throughout harvest, the weather gods were kind on the whole, providing many clear days and only a little wet weather later in the harvest.
This year we had a hard core team of six people on machinery, then anything from two to twelve hand pickers every day.
Most of our olives are harvested using pneumatic rakes to rake the olives off the trees into large nets that are wheeled from tree to tree. We also have some wonderful friends who come to help hand pick with us which is invaluable as some trees aren’t appropriate for raking. It is a crazy time but the harvest spirit and camaraderie is so special.
We had quite an international team this year. Very special friends Brandi and Orest came all the way from Arizona to squelch around in the mud helping us pick. We also had three wonderful German backpackers joining us as part of the raking team. They were travelling around Australia on a gap year having just finished school. They soon learnt the techniques and we made a fabulous team slipping and sliding.
A massive should out also to our friend Sue from Melbourne who always comes for many days at a time and helps at every turn, inside and out. Also our son Daniel who came from Wangaratta and worked his butt off whilst he was here!
The rain makes harvest very tricky due to moving heavy nets from tree to tree on steep very slippery slopes! Whilst the warm weather would seem more pleasant, the cool days are much better for quality of the oil.
We harvested 11 tonne in total this year which equates to around 1000 litres. This is slightly less than past years as we have undertaken some intense pruning and replaced some old trees with new ones.
We grow a range of different olive varieties, each bringing a unique nuance to the final blend. For example, Corrigiola brings grassiness and Verdale is often referred to as having the flavour of nuts or stone fruit. The final blend varies each year reflective of the season, which is one of the many things we love about working with nature.
Once the olives were picked, they’re transported to Tarralinga Estate in Pt Leo who do our processing for us (cleaning, pressing). The oil comes back to us as “nuovo” oil. It is very popular, especially to European oil connosueurs. It is cloudy and bright green, but has a shorter shelf life (three months). Mostly though, the oil sits in a large container where it settles for a couple of weeks. It then goes through a filter into a 1000 litre stainless steel van in our bottling and storage room.
After about three months, we bottle the oil in our main shed and label it ourselves, usually at the kitchen table over a cuppa!
Nothing goes to waste at Leaping Goat. The residual material is retained at the press to be dried and processed into grove fertiliser.
After all that it’s time to get pruning! This varies from tree to tree. Some require significant downsizing using a pole saw. The large wood is cur in the grove then collected and used for firewood for whoever needs it. Smaller branches and foliage are mulched back into the grove. Trees that has this large prune last year will need re-shaping and thinning and the newer trees require finer pruning to train them to grow into a well shaped tree that is ideal for harvesting.
The Australian Olive Oil International Competition takes place in October, for which we always eagerly await the results. We have been fortunate to receive a Gold Medal for several consecutive years so fingers crossed for a similar ranking this year!