Dreams and Resilience

 Flinders Island Olives is the product of dreams and resilience.

 The dreams of the aspirants, Jude and Mary-

 Anne together with the resilience of the olive

 trees have resulted in Flinders Island’s first

 certified Organic Olive Grove and processing plant.

  Both women were city dwellers but had been part of a group of Flinders Island holiday devotees since the late 1970’s.Summers were spent reading, resting, swimming and eating!

  In 2001 Jude and Mary-Anne moved to                  Flinders Island permanently and started their olive grove.        

  Thus began the transition from the slowly aging to the vitally engaged and sometimes exhausted. The pair embarked upon a very steep learning curve and gradually became fitter, fatter and had a lot of fun.

 New friends were made and old acquaintances  strengthened. 

 New skills were acquired including building fencing, planting ,fertilising, irrigating, pruning and eventually picking, processing, bottling, and labelling.

  They learnt as they went and now the grove produces more olive oil than the Furneaux          Islands can use.

   

 None of this would be possible without the

 magnificent support from friends and                    community members. At picking time the              volunteers are here working their way through      the grove.

 Lunch is provided to the hard working pickers

 who  generously offer their time to ensure

 the crop is taken off  before the birds take            more than their share.

 Conversations are enjoyed around the trees or

 contemplation of a more private nature takes

 place as a picker wanders to the next tree.

 If you are on Flinders Island during April or          May-please feel to join us. You are welcome.