The beautifully crafted pen is made from the pruned branches of one of the oldest olive groves in the state of Victoria. The grove of Mission Olives was planted over 60 years ago in the Goornong area, as a trial plot. Sadly the infrastructure for watering was not established, consequently the grove has survived with what has been provided from the heavens only. The trees have become over grown. Since becoming the responsibility of the Howard family a pruning program has been started.
Mission Olive trees are a cultivar developed in California by Spanish missions along the El Camino Real in the late 18th Century. Seventy-five percent of Mission Olive trees are in California, the rest scatter across the world, including ninety-two at Bridgeward Grove Olives. The Mission Olive, grown from wild-stock, proudly sits as a Heritage variety in the international ARK of TASTE catalogue of endangered heritage foods maintained by the Slow Food movement. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced.
