Happy 2012!
On this day, the very first of 2012, I was curious to see which were the top ‘Moon’ stories from the last year. So, I took a look at the stats.
Below are the top 5 stories posted in 2011, based on page views. I find this interesting, because these aren’t the ones I’d choose. But there you have it. The people have spoken. And they love carrot cake!
8 Comments | 
Guest posts & media, New Zealand | Tagged: carrot cake, Chickens, Happy New Year, olive harvest, pig, podcast, top 2011 stories | 
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Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
Grass in the olive grove
“He canceled,” I said, hanging up the phone.
Rick looked nervous. “What do you mean?”
“It’s taking him longer than expected in another olive grove. He says he’ll come here tomorrow, but he won’t commit to a time.”
“If he doesn’t come here first, he’ll get stuck in another grove again,” Rick said. “He’ll never make it here.”
“I know.”
Every year at harvest time, Andrew-of-the-Olives becomes a very popular man. With his Mighty Tree Shaker, he can harvest an olive tree in something like 30 seconds. He’s based in the Hawke’s Bay and he has the only tree shakers on the North Island.
16 Comments | New Zealand, Olives & olive oil | Tagged: kind neighbors, olive bin, olive crate, olive grove, olive harvest, olive oil, tree shaker | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
The first ripe Barnea
Our very first harvest was just around the corner, but Rick and I had no idea how to harvest and no equipment to do it. So that first year in Martinborough, I volunteered to help Helen at Olivo with their harvest. That way I could learn how to do it myself.
In late May I stood in the Olivo olive grove with Helen and her harvest team – Mavis, Scott and Bernard (pronounced BER-nerd here, not Ber-NARD the American way). Mavis was a thin, elderly woman. Scott and BERnard were clearly used to physical labor. I, it must be said, was not.
13 Comments | Neighbors, New Zealand, Olives & olive oil | Tagged: gratitude, olive grove, olive harvest, olive oil, satisfying work | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
Frantoio olives (click to enlarge)
Podcast available.
“They’re all still green,” Rick said.
We were standing in the middle of the olive grove on a cold morning in the middle of May. Nearly five hundred olive trees surrounded us, and there wasn’t a single ripe olive to be seen.
The frosts would be starting soon, but the grove simply wasn’t yet ready for harvesting. We didn’t know what to do.
Frost damage can completely destroy your crop, because it ruins the taste of your oil. We needed more time.
I looked around at all the green olives. “We have to delay the harvest. There’s no choice. We just have to hope the frost doesn’t get us.”
20 Comments | Neighbors, New Zealand, Olives & olive oil, Podcasts | Tagged: city friends, gratitude, kind neighbors, olive grove, olive harvest, olive oil, olive press, satisfying work, Wairarapa Lifestyle Magazine | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
Flower buds on a Barnea (click to enlarge)
The other day I took a walk through the olive grove to see how the trees are doing.
It was comforting to see the small, green flower buds of spring. It isn’t always this way.
Sometimes olives groves don’t behave according to plan.
When we bought this place the house had been empty for some time, and the grove hadn’t been pruned or sprayed for pests and disease in years.
So it wasn’t producing very much.
7 Comments | New Zealand, Olives & olive oil | Tagged: barnea, flower buds, gratitude, olive grove, olive harvest, olive oil | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
Moon over Martinborough has been named “New Zealand Site of the Month” in the October 2009 issue of NetGuide Magazine!
I was sitting at my computer at the government agency where I work when an email came in from someone in the Communications team telling me about it. Most of the people at work didn’t know I have a blog.
They do now.
15 Comments | Guest posts & media, New Zealand | Tagged: olive grove, olive harvest, olive oil | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
It all started with a ram. At the end of last summer, in late February, Hamish said, “I’m going to bring over a ram.”
Stockyard full of sheep
Hamish is the stock agent who grazes his sheep and cattle in our paddocks. We were standing at the fence, looking out at his 30 or so ewes that were grazing in our olive grove at the time. Hamish has a friendly smile, but he says very little. “You’ll see lambs out there in the spring,” he added. Then he nodded and walked away.
We’d never had lambs in our own paddocks before, and we couldn’t wait.
10 Comments | Death, New Zealand, Sheep & cattle | Tagged: lambing, manure, olive harvest | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
There are many ways to make your own olive oil. This is my own personal recipe. Feel free to modify it to make it work for you.
8 Comments | Guest posts & media, Neighbors, New Zealand, Olives & olive oil | Tagged: city friends, kind neighbors, olive harvest, olive oil | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
Washed olives going into the press
Rick and I drove up to the olive press and looked in through the ornate metal gate.
It was dark out, and the lights were still on inside. Diane of ‘Pressing Engagements’ was still pressing olives. She works furiously throughout May and June, then things go quiet for the olive presses of the Wairarapa valley.
We wanted to pick up our oil and get it home to taste it right away, in order to see if the frosts had damaged the taste. We’d gone to great lengths on harvest day to make sure we’d sorted out as much frost-damaged fruit as possible. But were our efforts enough?
Diane smiled when she saw us. “Your oil is beautiful,” she said immediately, and then waved us in through the gate.
Does she say that to all the boys?
12 Comments | Food, Neighbors, New Zealand, Olives & olive oil | Tagged: frantoio, kind neighbors, leccino, olio nuovo, olive grove, olive harvest, olive oil, olive oil containers, olive press | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
Mist on the hills beyond the bottom paddock
The first of the city friends arrived on Friday night, driving over the Rimutaka Hill Road after work in the dark, ready to settle in for a three-day weekend full of food, friends, olives, and a lot of hard work.
There were big hello hugs all around and bags deposited in guest rooms.
We operate a B&B here, so the extra bedrooms come in handy at harvest time — and also throughout the year, when friends and family occupy the rooms between paying guests.
As they arrived, everyone was talking about the horrible weather that had been forecasted for the weekend.
7 Comments | Neighbors, New Zealand, Olives & olive oil | Tagged: city friends, frantoio, gratitude, kind neighbors, leccino, nets, olive grove, olive harvest, olive oil, olive press, satisfying work | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
The other afternoon I walked through the grove to look at the olives. I wanted to see how close they are to being ready to harvest.
Distracted by the beauty of sunlight on grass
The late autumn light was sloping through the sky and throwing long shadows across the vibrant green grass. The olive trees were literally soaking up all the sun, leaving patches of darkness in their wakes.
The light was so beautiful that I for a moment I forgot why I was in the grove.
Then I turned back to the trees. I walked down their rows, reached out and touched the branches, looked closely at the olives.
11 Comments | New Zealand, Olives & olive oil | Tagged: barnea, frantoio, grass, leccino, manzanillo, olive harvest, olive oil, olive oil containers, sun | Permalink
Posted by Moon Over Martinborough
Events in Martinborough
