This year has been hailed a ‘dream harvest’ on Waiheke as olive growers rake the last groves for ripe fruit.
It is an about-turn year from 2023, says former owner of Rangihoua Estate Anne Stanimiroff, who now works as grove manager for Allpress Olive Groves.
“It’s been a dream harvest,” she told Gulf News. “Especially compared to last year; we’re not battling awful, wet weather and boggy soil and there’s very little disease with the olives.”
Picking began at the start of April, with teams out gathering the bountiful crops around the island under mostly sunny skies.
“We are privileged to have a good climate that’s suited to olives; long, hot, dry summers are the key and the fact that we do get a little bit cold in the winter helps too,” says Anne, who has been growing olives here since the 1990s. • Liza Hamilton
Full story in this week’s Gulf News… Out Now!!!
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