Life Among the Olives
Olive trees are synonymous with Greek culture; part of their fascinating landscape, social and economical history and heritage. In Greek mythology, the olive tree was created by Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, during a contest with Poseidon, God of the Sea to become the protector of a region within Greece. The city would be named after the one who presented the most precious, divine and useful gift and Athena’s gift of an olive tree, a symbol of peace and fruitfulness, was chosen by the citizens – and so it is that the capital came to be Athens.
It seems only fitting that the setting for Aroha, our tented wellness retreat, should be among olive trees, an ancient and beautiful symbol of peace and fruitfulness that has weathered sun and storms to stand proudly for thousands of years. It will also deepen our connection to Greek culture, as like communities here have done for generations, we live among, farm and use one of their most celebrated exports. There are various different approaches to farming olives across the islands and we have been looking into them closely, learning more about the best way to nurture the land we’ll become custodians of. We’re choosing to create a tented retreat to keep our community close to nature and the site earmarked for development will place us at the heart of ancient olive groves – predominantly the low-input traditional plantation type – which we’ve explained more about below. It’s so important to us that our presence has a positive impact and doesn’t disrupt the rich biodiversity of the land.
The following is taken from “LIFE among the olives” a publication by the European Commission focus group LIFE.
“Olive farms range from very small (<0.5 ha) to very large (>500 ha) and from traditional, low-intensity groves to Intensive, highly-mechanised plantations. Olive trees range from ancient, large-canopied specimens, cultivated by grafting onto wild olives and maintained by pruning for over 500 years, to modern dwarf varieties planted in dense lines, to be grubbed up (dug up) and replanted every 25 years. Tree densities vary from as few as 40-50 stems per hectare to 300-400 stems or more per hectare in the most intensive plantations.