Longridge Olives

28/08/2026

We had a fun evening testing a plane for aerial application of foliar sprays. The short summary is flying parallel to the rows in the plane (and the drone) gives the most even coverage and the tip vortex is the main driver for coverage, similar to the drone wake. The pictures featured were 40L/Ha parallel.

We had historically done 60L/Ha with the plane and thought 100L/Ha with the drone was good. I don't think the ground rig is being fully replaced by either in an orchard but the coverage was surprisingly good.

06/08/2026

Like a hot knife through butter, the saw is feasting on these trees. They're a tad overgrown so they'll appreciate the cut.

11/07/2026

The morning machine march. We're supposed to be finished... but we have broken a record for tonnage and are close to a new record for oil! Only the koreniki left to battle.

30/06/2026

25/05/2026

Last week we had Katsu join us from as we helped make this year’s batch of the famous TOOA cosmetic oil! ✨😍

Katsu and his brother Toshi's business makes and sells an incredible range of olive health products- not just the oil! It's a busy time of year to be taking side quests but the process and product is fascinating and we really enjoy having Katsu at the dining table with us. 🗾🫒🌏

23/05/2026

When something isn't working smoothly, we find a better way to do it!

The harvester regularly harvests entire branches from the olive trees which are prone to jamming and breaking buckets in the bucket conveyer. 🪾⛓️‍💥😅 After many coffees and long discussions, we came up with a new place for them to jam, this time triggering an alarm 🚨 and stopping the bucket conveyer before there is any damage done. 👏😌
The harvester is full of tiny improvements like this to help keep the days rolling smoothly. 🚜🫒

21/05/2026

Harvest 2026… bring it on! 🌿🫒

The lead-up to this year’s harvest has been a full sprint to the finish line, with the boys only finishing work on the harvester two days ago. This season, we put a lot of trust in Jim’s inventive mind and capable hands, with a complete internal reworking of the picking heads.

Thankfully, Jim and Lachlan worked with precision to make sure the harvester was ready to roll exactly when we needed it. We are harvesting your next cask of EVOO right now!

11/05/2026

With harvest just around the corner and the prep work keeping us all busy, this little moment of morning dew and quiet calm felt worth soaking in. 🌿🫒

12/02/2026

Take a look at the February edition of the Farm and Farm Machinery Magazine where we are featured talking about our foray into olives and the machines and systems we have built to make it happen.

https://issuu.com/primecreativemedia-2016/docs/farms_farm_machinery_459/30

10/02/2026

This motor runs a diaphragm pump through a gearbox which we use to dose fertilizer into the irrigation. I put peroxide through it and learned a lot about chemistry too. Nylon bad. Polypropylene good. Some fittings eroded and then there was 40 days of rain as the mainline pressure came out at the walk inside the shed.

Trying to push a liquid that is ready to bubble and create airlocks also has its challenges. We were ready to throw it out but had the simple idea of giving the peroxide more head pressure into the suction side by lifting the IBC up on the loader and voila! We are in business. The goal is to try and clean up some emitters that may be blocked.