The Stone House Lodge Olive Estate was established in 2008 and contains over 5,000 olive trees. The orchard is nestled on the banks of the Goukou River in Stilbaai, South Africa. The river flows into the Goukou Estuary and the Indian Ocean 9 kilometers away.
The first step of orchard establishment was ripping the soil to aerate it and to improve the drainage, because olives trees don't like "wet feet" (roots). We did this via a "Ripper" machine - 500 horsepower and 70 tons of grinding steel. A drip irrigation system was installed (it is the most economical and effective way of irrigating without wasting any water). The trees were planted in rows 7 meters apart, and 5 meters spaced between each tree.
Olive orchid on a summers afternoon
Young olive trees at the nursery, ready for delivery to the Stonehouse Lodge
1 Lite Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Hand Picked & Cold Pressed.
The ripper
The view of the land before the ripper was put to work
Our orchard consists of Kalamata, Mission, Frantoia, Leccino and Coratina cultivars. We grow our olives using the best organic and scientific practices using mulches and compost recycled from chicken and horse manure via fertigation (fertilizing through irrigation) to promote soil and plant health.
Our olives are handpicked at optimal ripeness (usually May through June) each year. The oil is extracted by cold pressing the olives and yields a unique blend of extra virgin quality olive oil.