Grove Diary
Spring 2011.
With the harvest over and our new oil settling in the stainless steel tanks, we now begin the task of pruning in readiness for the next season.
This is one of the most important facets of olive growing because pruning actually stimulates new growth and ensures a good future supply of fruit. We have learnt much about pruning over the last 12 years and continue to do so as our trees mature. The technique changes as the trees become bigger but the outcome remains much the same - let in light and open up the canopy.
We have again created two oils from this year's harvest. One is a blend of frantoio and leccino olives, which has a distinctive medium peppery flavour, thanks to the leccino, without being overly strong. We regard this as a very traditional Tuscan flavoured extra virgin olive oil. The other is our usual light and fruity extra virgin olive oil made using different varieties of olives (without the leccino to tone down the pepperiness) and give a smooth, rounded flavour olive oil suitable for use in baking as well as cooking.
Our aim has always been to encourage people to have a bottle of delicious, fresh, extra virgin olive oil within easy reach for your everyday cooking and baking, not just for special occasions! Extra virgin olive oil is such an essential ingredient in almost all recipes that it really does pay to use a top quality extra virgin olive oil to get the best flavour.
