liquid Spanish gold

About 6 years ago, we took the plunge and planted roughly 700 olive trees at Las Dunas. Go big or go home, right? Initially, we decision was made primarily because we had 12 acres of land and needed to plant something that would look good year round and would require minimal maintenance. But we’ve come to find that olive trees offer something more than just beauty … spanish gold! Who would’ve known?

Olive oil, also known as liquid spanish gold, has a rich history here in Spain, especially here in Andalucia. Spanish farmers have been exporting olive oil from Andalucia since Roman times. Today, Spain is home to between 200 to 300 million olive trees, making it the largest producer and exporter of olive oil worldwide. 

This year, with the help of our lovely workaway workers, we harvested our trees. In Andalusia, the olive harvest typically takes place in November, December and January. Although recent flooding had ruined some of our fields, there were plenty of trees still bearing fruit. Over the course of 3 weeks, we harvested 526 kg of olives. 

the harvest team

workawayers extraordinaire

birthday boy

We loaded our bounty into the back of our trusty Land Rover and headed to Olibaza, our neighbourhood olive oil cooperative. Olibaza is a family-run business founded in 1994 that produces, packages, and distributes extra virgin olive oil from producers in the Baza region. 

When we arrived at the facility, we poured our olives into a vented chamber where they were weighed, and then combined with other farmers’ harvests. The next step? Testing the olives for oil content. After a few days of waiting, we returned to claim our reward—freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil! 

the first of the olives going into the vent

spectator sport

sunset and tractors

At Olibaza, suppliers have the option of receiving oil or cash in exchange for their olives. Given the modest size of our harvest and our love of olive oil, the choice was obvious. We happily returned home with 89 litres of liquid spanish gold. 

happy with his haul

liquid spanish gold

450 year old olive tree

Safe to say this year's harvest was a success, and we have renewed appreciation for the labor and love that goes into every drop of olive oil. Not to mention we have enough olive oil to get us through next year’s retreat season. Here’s to many more harvests at Las Dunas!