Table Olives, Tapenades and Preserves
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Growers and Producers of Premium Organic Table Olives, Tapenades and Preserves |
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Olive News - Autumn 2003 Hi everybody and welcome to Autumn in Mudgee. Just as we were putting up the Summer Newsletter talking of extreme temperatures, the heavens opened with a bang....and how!!!! 10 inches or 240mm overnight on Fri 21st Feb, most of which fell in 6 hours, saw Mudgee swamped and left some serious damage to roads, bridges, fences and other infrastructure around the district. Here at Figtree we had some roofing damage to one of our cabins and driveway but most importantly our dams were all totally filled...some of them up to 3 mega-litres[3,000,000] and the house and Olive processing water tanks were filled after a lean 2 years. Only the week before we had been hand watering the olives!! That dump of rain will see the Farm through another 2 years without rain. Harvest / Vintage is just about done and we have 2 tonnes in the tanks. 800 kilos of our own olives and 1,200 kilos from surrounding farms and a grower in Tamworth. This year also sees us taking care of Knut Hamman's table olives from his organic Lakelands Olive Grove near Mudgee, we are going to process his olives with our Natural Processing [NO CAUSTIC SODAS]. Lots of Manzanilla this year but no Jumbo Kalamata [went bi-annual] with average yields of Sevillano, Verdale and Grafted Kalamata. On the product line front we have 200-300 kilos of Rocksalt cured olives down in Salt and they should be ready round June. All 2002 stock sold out at the farmgate over the Easter/Anzac holiday break which was the BUSIEST period the farm/B&B has ever seen. We have rush released the 2003 Olives which are very fresh and may still contain a certain bitterness but will settle down over a week or two This year we are also going to expand our popular "Marinated Olives" line. Our marinated olives are going to become Greek Marinated Olives and will be augmented by Spanish and Moroccan Marinated Styles. Wherever possible all the Garlic, Parsley, Lemons and other herbs are grown on our BFA certified farm in what are now being called our "Marinade Gardens". It is important to remember that these lines are only available at the farmgate/ markets because of their need for refrigeration though they are available at certain delis with the right facilities. Check out the Stockists page for availability. Thats all for now See you soon Richard. October 2003 After a frenetic Wine Festival and School Holiday period where the Farmgate and cabins were full steam ahead its nice for it to be a bit quieter. We still have our Growers Markets to go to..... Bathurst Sat. 25 Oct. Pyrmont SMH Good Living Growers Market Sat 1 Nov. Orange Sat. 8 Nov. Also we are doing the Orange Garden Expo on Sun 2 Nov. which were very popular last year and lots of other Central West Growers/Producers will be there. Our musical adventures continue at Eltons where Endive will be playing on Tuesday Oct 21 from 7.30pm......Dinner and Show for $40 @ head with a bottle of wine included. The acoustic jams continue on Fridat 31 Oct at the Quaff Shop Gallery and Cafe and I'm with Homerule at the Wine Bar on Thursady 30 Oct. Our annual Mudgee vs Chatswood Cricket Match is on Saturday Oct 25 at Poets Corner Wines with a big BBQ to follow at Figtree Retreat. Lots of fun and some very entertaining jousting between Muso's/Farmers/Bankers/Winemakers. Starts at 11.30pm. September 2003 Wine Celebration month [check guide] is happening in Mudgee and there are lots of fantastic events, music and Art exhibitions on during the Month of September. The Cabins are heavily booked all during September but you might be able to squeeze in if you enquire. Figtree Retreat Olives will be taking part in the very successful "Go Grazing" event to be held at the Racecourse on Sat. 20 September. 10 wineries will have their wines matched with local foodies/ producers and this year we will be doing crostinis with our 2 Tapenades and some Jannei Goats Cheese. Tickets $59pp includig music from A'cappella Jazz from Blues Point. Of course we will be at our usual Growers Markets which just seem to be getting bigger and bigger......Orange Sat.13, Bathurst Sat. 27 and Sunday 28 at the Dubbo Food and Wine Fiesta at Dubbo Zoo where we will be sharing a Food Stand with the wonderful people from Newtown Providores. On the musical front....... Endive [our 2 piece] make another appearance at Eltons on the last Tuesday of the month [30th] for Dinner and Wine and Music in an intimate mode. Cost is $40 pp, enquiries 0263720772. The Wine Bar with "Home Rule" is on again Thursday 25 Sept. followed by a showcase of Mudgee Talent at Platts Winery/Artspace where Home Rule will be joined by lots of Mudgee Musos including Tangent..stay tuned for that one. The acoustic jams are on again as well on Friday 26 Sept so it is a pretty busy month!! August 2003 The Annual Mudgee Olive Oil Awards and Dinner is on again on Friday 8th August. Come and check out all the award winning oils and feast on Regional Produce ...oh and check out Tangent's Rod Murray who will be entertaining the crowd with his music. Craigmoor Restaurant 7pm . Tickets $80/70 Enquiries Tony Robertson 6373-3798 "Ferrogusto", an Italian food and wine street fair at Canada bay [Fivedock, Sydney Inner West] has asked the Mudgee Olive Association to attend its yearly fair slated for Sunday August 17, from 10-4pm. This event last year attracted 40,000 people so we are pretty excited.....lots of great Mudgee Olive Oil and lots of great Figtree Olives. The annual Balmoral Mudgee Food and Wine Fair is on again, Sunday August 24th. All of the Mudgee wineries will be participating in this extremely popular event and we are proud to be part of it. We will probably be sharing a stall with Sue Clubb from Ridgeback Park Olives, so you can get your favourite oil and olives/tapenades from the same stand. On the musical front, "Endive" the 2 piece light music outfit that I front with Stephen Price will be performing at Five Corners Winery on Saturday August 2nd. It's a five course Indian feast which Grant and Suzie Leonard are putting on, so if you're in the region, drop in. Wine/Dinner and show $50. 7pm start. Also catch me at the Quaff Shop jams, last Friday of the month, and with Home Rule at Roth's Winebar Thursday July 31st & August 28th. On that same day we are down at the SMH Good Living Growers Market at Pyrmont, so I will be a busy lad. Tangent return to the Prince of Wales Hotel Gulgong on Friday August 15th where we should have the guitar services of our extremely multi-talented, creative, wiity, urbane, likable, manabouttown......... Cletis Carr. If you're in Mudgee you can check out Richard in Acoustic mode with Stephen Price from Tangent in their duo "Endive" at Eltons Restaurant/Cafe on Tuesday 24-6-03 .....or come along to the Acoustic Jams night at the Quaff Shop Gallery /Cafe on Friday 27-6-03 Next week Tangent play at The Prince Of Wales Hotel on Friday 4-7-03. On the Olive side we have been confirmed for 2 stalls at the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days plus Richard will be running 2 Cooking with Olives demoes.......Fri 18/ Sat19 July Friday 30th May, At the Bathurst Folk Club in the Mt. Panorama Motel, with Wheelers and Dealers, some very good musical friends of mine whom I sometimes guest with on Percussion/Vocals will be performing. Yours truly might be getting up with them. They are regular guests at Figtree Retreat and also perform at The Wine Celebration and Gulgong Folk Festival. 8pm $15/ $12. MUDGEE WINE AND FOOD EXPO Saturday 17th May, from 9am to 5pm Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee, Sydney NSW The expo is being presented by Mudgee Wine Grape Growers in conjunction with the Coogee Bay Hotel. And of course, Figtree Retreat Olives will be there! Saturday March 29th sees the Gourmet Trail Moving Feast, and Figtree and proud to be a part of this fine event. Richard says, "Our contribution is our own Tapenade and Local Goats Cheeses served in the Orchard....very sexy I think!!" Click here to view the brochure.
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