THE picking is done now and the bottling well under way.
Next will come the filtering, and best of all, the tasting.
It’s time to make olive oil at Shelley Triffett’s place in Hamilton, and it’s her favourite time of year.
Shelley’s been doing this for nearly 10 years, beginning with a moment when a neighbour suggested she put to use a few surplus acres at his place near her home.
She located 100 trees in New South Wales, semi-mature Frantoio and Picual olives, and quickly reestablished them. Another 150 went into the ground in 2018.
“We picked these two varieties because they’re prolific oil producers,” she says. Frantoio is from the southeast of Italy and Picual from Spain.
“Now, with some help from local soil and water, bees and other pollinators, they’re fully mature and good producers.’’
She singles out Ashbolt Olives in the Derwent Valley for their advice “They’re our go-to people,” she said.
The just-picked olives that came out of the paddocks at Hamilton in the past few weeks are green-black to black in colour.
“The trick is to get them before that first frost comes in June,” she tells me.
“Any longer on the tree and they’ll lose weight and condition quickly.”
Now comes the blending of the Italian and the Spanish varieties until the taste-mix is just right. Then comes bottling and labelling.
She’ll sell them at a few select outlets — including the IGA in Ouse, Ravensnest in Wayatinah, the Busby Park Roadhouse — but much of the 75 litres that’ll be bottled will end up in the hands of friends.
That number keeps growing, too.
The Tasmanian Fine Food show has helped spread a word or two about her oil.
Back in 2019, she took a bronze, and another in 2021. Last year, 2022, it was two silver awards.
Her fans now include Graham Ross, the presenter of the TV show Better Homes and Gardens, who found her recently and now regularly orders a half-dozen for home consumption.
His word for her work? Exquisite!