Chilean Farm Stay Holidays

Fundo el Rodeo deTorca

Laguna Torca, Vichuquen, Maule, Chile.

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Our two year old Olive grove has been an exciting time for us . Our dream of filling the farm with olive trees has become a reality. We have had a wet winter in the first year giving us ideal conditions to plant, and also filling the Laguna right up and ensuring our wells will be full for the important hot summer months. We have installed an irrigation system to ensure the health of the olive trees.

We have planted 100 Frantoio up on the hillside as an experiment in water management using only rainfall for water supply.We have planted 3 year old trees ,which we had been kept potted to give the best chance of sucess. The land was formerly used for pine forest and has to be left for a year for the acids to rebalance.

We have planted three different types of Olive. Arbequina,Manzanilla, both smaller trees and Frantoio,which will represent the larger species.We are setting this project up as organic . Fortunately the world problem olive fly does not exist in Chile, giving us a huge advantage over other countries.

First years growth

Six months later

Look Closely and you´ll see some olives !

We shall be having a small harvest this year, bodes well for the future, Sol and Wilfred do all the work and all the patience and hard work shines through.

The plastic wrap around the trunk stops the pesky rabbits from chewing through the tree trunk .

We have had our first harvest Sat 26th May 2010.

 

ARBEQUINA

Also known as: ARBEQUI, ARBEQUIN
Area of origin: CATALONIA (Spain)

A tree of medium vigor with a weeping shape. It has a crown of average size and produces a small amount of new wood each year. The leaves are elliptical Lanceolate in shape and shiny dark green in color.
Spherically symmetrical in shape, small in size (1.75 - 2.0 grams) with a rounded top. Fruit is black at maturation which occurs in mid season (the second half of November), but not all at once. The yield in oil is good (20 - 22%), of excellent quality with good organoletic characteristics.
A productive variety that enters into production early. This variety is considered rustic with good resistance to frosts and with high adaptability to different climates and soils (including poor ones).
A variety that adapts well to dense planting because of it's small size, but adapts poorly to mechanical harvest by shaker because of the small size of the fruit., the pendant shape of the tree and the strong attachment of the fruit.

MANZANILLA


Also known as: MANZANILLA de SEVILLA,
MANZANILLA de DOS HERMANAS
Area of origin: ANDALUSIA (SPAIN)

A vigorous plant with a rising habit. The crown has long pendulant branches, while the leaves are medium-small elliptical and bright green in color.
Used for table fruit, it is spherical, slightly asymmetrical with a rounded top and bottom. The olives (3-5 grams in weight) are picked very early (September), when they are green. The pulp is 85-88% of the fruit.
Self-sterile variety that is very productive and only slightly alternate bearing. Pollinator: Gordal Sevillana. Good resistance to cold and to changes in the weather.
This is the most important Spanish cultivar. These olives are appreciated on the international markets for the recognizable shape of the fruit, the ease of removing the pit and for the excellent quality of the flesh.

FRANTOIO

FRANTOIO

 

Also known as: FRANTOIANO, CORREGGIOLO, RAGGIO GENTILE, RAZZO
Area of origin: TUSCANY

This is an oil variety particularly wide-spread and appreciated not only in Tuscany and the central zones of Italy, but throughout the world. The plant is of medium vigor, semi-drooping with an open structure and fruiting branches which are long, slender and flexible. The leaves are elliptical, lanceolate, of medium dimension and glossy dark green.
The drupe is of medium size (between 1.5 and 2.5 grams), extended oval in form with well visible, sparse whitish markings. Matruation is late and gradual. When mature the fruit is purple-black, but at the preferred picking time green and purple. It is rich in oil (between 17 and 22%) which is very fruity, notably aromatic and of high quality.
The tree is self-fertile with high, constant productivity. It is extremely early in setting fruit and has an ovarian abortion rate which rarely exceeds 10%, sometimes being even as low as 1%.
While the self-fertile character of the tree guarantees a high and constant fruit production, the presence of a pollinator further increases it. This peculiar productive characteristic, as well as the quality of its oil makes Frantoio a highly valuable and irreplaceable variety.

 

Olive Oil Information and Links

Chile exported 1,342 tons of olive oil between January and September 2009, a 144% increase compared to the same period the year before. International recognition came in 2005, when the National Association of Chilean Olive and Olive Oil Producers was distinguished by L’Extravergine, the most important oil guide for restaurants and chefs all over the world.  Chilean growers recently won awards for outstanding olive oils at the renowned Sol d'Oro International Competition in Verona, Italy.

The temperate Mediterranean climate and fertile soil of central Chile are the perfect place for producing high-quality olive oil. There were already olive plantations in the country by the 16th century, stretching from the Limarí Valley in the north to the Bio Bio River in the south. At the beginning, production was exclusively by hand, but in the 1950s the industry began a process of professionalization that has yet to end. Olive oil must be fruity, spicy, and have a measure of bitterness, and Chilean Olive Oil has all three.

International Olive Council

The International Olive Council is the only intergovernmental organization in the world to bring together olive oil and table olive producing and consuming stakeholders.

http://www.internationaloliveoil.org

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CHILEOLIVA

Association of Chilean Olive Oil Producers

http://www.chileoliva.com/

 

Olive Oil Source

Huge resource for Olive info

http://www.oliveoilsource.com/page/home

Some great Blogs and Forums
The Olive Oil Gazette
the olive blog
I love olive oil blog
Indian olive oil.com
Olive Oil Tasters
Olives101.com
Olive Oil Only
Olive oil quotation
Olive Oil on line Forum
Olives 101 Forum

Pumpkins anyone?

 

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