Our Process

The husbandry of olives is quite simple. The harvest, of course, is around the first of December. We hire some professional pickers, invite friends out for a picking party, start early in the morning and try to get the harvesting done before 2pm. After lunch we will move the full ½ ton field bins to Paso Robles where they are processed. To get the best quality oil the fruit needs to be processed within 12 hours of picking.

After the ministrations of our friend Gregg Bone (He and his wife Audrey Burnham own the Kiler Ridge Olive Farm) the very first Olio Nuevo begins to trickle out from the maze of washing, grinding, mixing and centrifuging and we get to taste the year’s endeavor. It is a long day.

The production of olive oil is no longer donkeys walking in a circle rotating the grinding stones. It is computer controlled and very efficient. After the flurry of the harvest the pace slows down. We do packaging and shipping for the winter, and do some pruning. Spring is keeping the grass cut. Summer is the little irrigation that we do, and the cycle starts anew in the winter. It is a very rewarding cycle.