Good news from the farm!! In our last February newsletter we mentioned our increasing worries over the lack of rainfall over the past 2 years at Querubi, and someone has taken note, since all of May we have been blessed by abundant rainfall. Not just any rain, but the gentle kind that falls slowly over a long time period and is immediately absorbed by our precious soils. Within two weeks the fields went from looking rather miserable and dry to an abundance of wild flowers and sturdy grass.

Walking the fields in the drizzling rain is a voyage into the heart of organic farming. Our main concern over the past 20 years has been to stabilize and improve the health of our soils. We are farming on land that had never been farmed before, so much of our soils were already in a good state before we started. Over the past years we have done a lot of work to improve the quality of our soils by applying year after year good organic fertilizer, being very careful with weed management and tillage and never using any chemicals. The result are soils that with a bit of rainfall spring back to life in an astounding fashion. Masses of earth worms are coming back to the soil surface, aerating and draining at the same time, plants grow with an astonishing speed and variety (we have counted over 30 different varieties) and the olive trees are growing enthusiastically. Good soils, untouched by chemicals, feed healthy trees, giving superb fruit and hence great olive oil. 

 For now, the fields are wet and fragile and we can’t do much work, so after the hard work of pruning, fertilizing and repairing the irrigation systems, we are all having a much needed break before we gear up for the summer months. It just started raining again …… hurray!! 

With gratitude, The Querubi Team