Fancy Pants

[To read up on our previous harvests, check out Pretty Monkey (2021), cat slash human (2019), and Olive Love (2018) and Hannah’s Harvest(2017).]

I learnt from last year’s mistakes (picking late in the season with the rain and rot) and managed to book this year’s pressings in May. Fancy Pants is the delightful result.

Once again, we kept our label design in-house. The name and front label image come from the creative mind of my talented 10-year old:

In picking this year’s olives, I adhered to my usual principles: (1) handpick only (no rake & shake); and (2) pick only those olives that would otherwise go to waste.

This year’s facts and figures:

• Olives picked = 223kg
• Picking time = 35.5 hours over 10 days from 14-25 May inclusive
• Oil produced = 39L [pressing dates: 19 and 25 May; cold-pressed at Jumanga]
• Varietals = picual, seedling, kalamata, manzanillo, verdale, nevadillo blanco, azapa, Hardy’s mammoth
• Locations = Duncraig (89% yield by weight), Yokine (11%)

Special thanks go to this year’s contributors:

• Amanda, Anna & Andrew, Darren & Alicia, John & Jean, Mabel & Lido, Pauline, Peter & Penney, Rachel, Sarah Jane & Michael, and Suzie & Paul, who offered up their olives—and to Charlie, Kristy, Leandri, Peter & Penney, and Tina, who would have given me olives if they could have;
• Amanda, Anna, and Pauline, who gave olive-picking time;
• Jutta & Tom at Jumanga, who pressed my olives and let me pencil in next year’s dates already;
• Jonelle at Blue Butterfly Printing, who printed our labels;
• IndaIndaHood, our label artist;
• Risq and the wonderful Waldecks walking group, who contributed bottles for the cause; and
• you, dear reader. May you remain engaged and ever curious.

Wishing you well with your food,
Hannah.