The majority of the olives on the farm are hand picked, while some of the olives used for oil production are picked with a mechanical shaker. The perfect time for harvesting is when 50% of the olives on the tree are half ripe, 25% green and 25% black. This ratio creates the intense fruity, peppery flavour particular to Morgenster Olive Oil.

Our trees are pruned on the single-leader system, and planted 6 x 3 metres to accommodate mechanical harvesting and optimum yield. The mechanical shaker is only used for the cultivars destined for olive oil and on trees older than six years. Use of this machine on trees under the age of six years would damage their future growth.

The table olives on Morgenster will continue to be picked by hand in the traditional way, ensuring a quality end-product. We keep all the cultivars separate during harvesting and processing.