We've struck oil! Not bad for a 'crazy Englishman'

THE world's most northerly commercial olive grove has produced its first batch of oil despite the worst efforts of British bad weather and hungry owls.

- BY JON KING

Italian and Spanish experts thought farmer David Hoyles was a “crazy Englishman” when he sought advice on planting olive trees in Lincolnshire six years ago.

But two years after making his dream a reality he has picked his first harvest and started turning the fruit into golden, peppery oil.

David, 50, said: “It’s been a massive learning curve. We're on the crazy edge of pushing the boundaries.

“We're seeing warmer temperatures at the moment, allowing us to have a go. The whole journey has been brilliant, but also quite challenging.”

Half the crop taken from the three-year-old olive trees grown on the farm’s silt-rich soil was lost to frost and strong winds.

Deer, rabbits and even owls took a small share of the fruit too.

But friends and family worked their way through row upon row of the grove’s 18,000 trees to harvest the olives by hand.

'We're on the crazy edge of pushing boundaries"

While larger producers allow the green fruit to blacken — because black olives yield greater quantities of oil — David chose to harvest earlier while the fruits were still green.