By Merrin Layden
From March each year across Melbourne’s suburbs, we begin to see trees with plump, bright green fruit weighing down the branches. Olive trees have become part of the city’s urban character since they were planted by European migrants in the 20th century, often in pride of place in front yards and nature strips. There are dozens of varieties, some of unknown origin, that were planted from cuttings brought to Australia from farms in Italy, Greece and Malta.
These days, many of the original owners have moved on and the olives are no longer harvested, becoming wasted on footpaths or food for birds. CERES, the environmental organisation in Brunswick East has created a program to save these olives and their heritage. ‘CERES Olives to Oil’ is an annual community festival bringing people together to harvest olives from backyards, parks and nature strips across Melbourne and turn them into delicious extra virgin olive oil.
Run in partnership with My Smart Garden, the festival celebrates and highlights the importance of local food in our communities as well as recognising the wonderful heritage of diverse food cultures we enjoy. Local residents bring their olives of all colours and sizes in buckets, bags and baskets and share their stories of harvesting the fruit and making new friendships.
Olives of all varieties, from trees planted in backyards, street verges and public parks are welcome in the pressing, and CERES accepts olives at any stage of ripeness. They must be picked fresh, no more than two days before the event. The result is a delicious, extra virgin olive oil that has won multiple awards at the Royal Adelaide Show.
If you’re keen to get involved, here’s some olive harvesting tips;
- For the best oil pick your olives on the day or as close to the drop-off day as possible – no more than two days earlier is a good rule
- If you have a big tree spread a tarp or old sheet on the ground and shake the branches or use a garden rake or a special olive rake to pull the fruit down, then collect them up from the sheet at the end.
- If you’re confident you can cut out branches that need to be pruned and strip the olives off them once they’re on the ground.
Olive drop-off days are Sunday 11th May in Newport and Sunday 18th May in Sunshine.
Tickets are essential and available to residents of this year’s partner councils Brimbank, Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong.
As well as the pressing of the olives, the FREE program includes a community festival at McNish Reserve in Yarraville on Sunday June 1st with music, workshops and a hand-operated press for those who want to have a go at turning olives into oil.
CERES is asking for volunteers to help with the events, with tasks such as weighing people’s olives and sharing out the oil. Volunteers receive a bottle of oil as thanks.
Email olivestooil@ceres.org.au or head to www.ceres.org.au/olives-to-oil/ to find out more.
