We have two clients in the hills above Carmel Valley.  Both clients came to us within a year of each other, having a passion for olive oil and wanting to bring their trees into production.  Both are somewhat challenging due to the coastal climate of Monterey Bay, which fools the trees into producing multiple bloom periods each year instead of just one bloom period, as is normal.  However, Merchants & Millers is always up for a challenge, and we really enjoy working these orchards for our clients.

Our first client had transplanted large olive trees to his estate, but hadn't been getting any production from them. After we had positively identified which cultivars he had planted, we determined the pollen from the cultivars was incompatible with each other.  We then found olive pollen from a different cultivar that was compatible with both of his primary cultivars, and now we hand pollinate his trees every spring during bloom. We also prune and manage the orchard.

The second Carmel Valley client purchased a property that was already planted to 3 acres of super high density Arbequina olives.  There were health issues with the trees planted on the very top and very bottom portions of their hillside, and also some pest and disease issues. We were able to resolve the issues over the course of several growing seasons, and the orchard is currently very productive.