WE ALL love olive oil. Now here’s a chance to enjoy your own “home-grown”, cold pressed, virgin olive oil.
Wonthaggi now has its own community olive press, housed at the State Coal Mine Rescue Station Arts after being delivered all the way from Italy. A technician from the company (from Toowoomba not Italy!) is coming to guide us through our first pressing.
Simply harvest your olives (or have a volunteer harvest them for you) and bring them to the Rescue Station between noon and 5pm on May 20.
We'll weigh them and give you a receipt. We will then press the olives, get back in contact with you and arrange for you to collect your share of the oil. A rough estimate is one litre of oil for every 10 kilograms of olives but we’ll only know once we’ve done it.
If you don’t have any olive trees, don’t despair. You’ve probably noticed olive trees in your neighbourhood where the fruit goes to waste. Register with us as a volunteer picker and we’ll supply flyers that you can leave in the letterbox or hand over when you knock on the door and offer your services.
The cost to take part? A big fat zero, though donations to help cover the Rescue Station costs are welcome. Better still, join Rescue Station Arts when you bring your olives or pick up your oil. The $11 annual membership gives you access to a welcoming and vibrant arts organisation offering a variety of workshops and art-related activities.
Olives are ready to pick for oil when they are nearly ripe and have begun to change colour from green to pinkish purple. The fresher the better so don’t pick more than a couple of days before the pressing. And please remove all rotten fruit, leaves and twigs.
We’ll let you know when the oil is ready to collect. Please bring your own bottle/s and a container to take away your share of the discarded seeds and skins which are good for your garden.
You can find more information on harvesting and other olive-related matters at rescuestationarts.org.au/wonny-olives-to-oil/
Inquiries: Liane on 0408 055 767 or [email protected]
Sept 14, 2022 - Liane Arno calls in some expert help as she looks forward to the arrival of a community olive press in Wonthaggi.