Growers and Producers of Premium Organic Table Olives, Tapenades and Preserves

Newsletter - Summer 2000 Well Summer has finally hit Mudgee with temperatures getting to 38°C on Wednesday 19th January. Before that we hadn't had a single day over 32°C. Prolonged cooler weather in Spring and early Summer led to extended flowering and some "faulty" pollination in our grove. Consequently we will not be getting our expected crop and will be looking to source olives from outside our farm again this season. The trees at "Mudgee Wines" have gone into their "off" year, but we have secured the organic olive trees at Botobolar Vineyard and enquiries are flooding in from other older groves in the region. It has still been a very busy time at Figtree Retreat with our new 3-bedroom holiday cabin under construction. Lots of jams, pickles and chutneys are being made and bottled to compliment the olive sales and the vegetable gardens are in full swing. As far as stocks go we still have some Manzanilla left and are still bottling the Mission from May/June '99 and they definitely mellow nicely with age. To finish off, we will return to the weather which while getting hotter, is dry with no rain since Christmas. We have been irrigating weekly, however some of the older dry land Verdale trees are showing moisture stress, so we look to the skies in hope. That's all for now but we'll update again in April when harvest should be in full swing.

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