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<pre>Like a few others recently, I've been shamed into introducing myself
to the list instead of quietly lurking at the back of the class,
absorbing everyone else's wisdom ;-)

I'm an expat Welshman living in the Waipara wine district of North
Canterbury, New Zealand, with a small truffiere (back paddock) and
small olive grove (front paddock, one year old, Frantoio, Leccino,
Moraiolo, Pendolino and some Koroneiki). I'm the editor/publisher of
Olive Business, the newsletter of the Canterbury Branch of the NZ
Olive Association, and my new book, The Olive Book (Canterbury
University Press, 1999, $39.95) is a guide to growing olives in the
southern hemisphere, designed specifically to help anyone starting out
in the business. I'll leave the reviews to other members of the
list...

Our little farm - Limestone Hills - is only 25 acres/10ha, but we hope
to be economically self-sufficient by producing small quantities of
very high quality: EV olive oil, black truffles, black truffle infused
EV olive oil, walnut oil, hazelnut oil, and perhaps even smaller
quantities of white truffles and white-truffle infused EV olive oil,
and porcini and porcini-infused EV olive oil. The sums work out nicely
- all we need to do now is to produce something!

The list is certainly useful and interesting, and I look forward to
adding my comments from time to time.

Best wishes

---
Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills, New Zealand
Words, olives and truffles
Office +64 (0)3 355 9552 Home +64 (0)3 314 9921
Mobile 025 790 070
"The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" (FZ)
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<pre>Alle 11.23 27/01/2000 +1300, Gareth Renowden ha mandato a Marco questo
messaggio:

Welcome Gareth!

This can be a little out-of-topic, but I think who loves olive oil is a
gourmet...
Are your white truffles and porcini natural or cultivated?

Bye!

Marco Bernardini
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<pre>Welcome and when do you open your 'Trattoria" ? We will all come over for a
field trip.

Regards,

Phil B.
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<pre>> From: "Phil Bramley" <bramleyp@one.net.au>
>
> Welcome and when do you open your 'Trattoria" ? We will all come over for a
> field trip.

The restaurant business has always struck me as too much like hard
work (and then I went and planted an olive grove....), but you're
welcome to have a wander round at any time. If you want a truffle
dinner, however, you may have to wait a few years - my trees are still
babies (minimum two years to go).

--
Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills, New Zealand
Words, olives and truffles
Office +64 (0)3 355 9552 Home +64 (0)3 314 9921
Mobile 025 790 070
"The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" (FZ)
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<pre>> From: Marco Bernardini <webmaster@taggiasca.com>

> This can be a little out-of-topic, but I think who loves olive oil is a
> gourmet...
> Are your white truffles and porcini natural or cultivated?

The white truffles will be part of an experimental plot to determine
if we can grow Tuber magnatum and Tuber albidum (also known as T
borchii) in NZ. The scientist behind the black truffle business is
working on those at the moment. We can find porcini in the "wild"
(arrived on trees from Europe with early settlers), but we're also
working on plantations of those.

Apologies for wandering off-topic. Anyone who wants to know more may
feel free to email me direct.

--
Gareth Renowden, Limestone Hills, New Zealand
Words, olives and truffles
Office +64 (0)3 355 9552 Home +64 (0)3 314 9921
Mobile 025 790 070
"The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" (FZ)
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