The farm in situ, the strategic action and the daily care of the land and the tree.
We refer to a series of key interventions in the sustainability, quality and vitality of the olive tree.
SOME OF OUR BIODYNAMIC PROCESSES
This is a fundamental and highly specialized intervention. Surely we have seen those who grow bonsais, the care with which they do it, well, the olive tree needs the same care and this can only be done by experienced professionals.
It allows you to correct imbalances, improve plant aeration, and discard useless branches that consume energy and take away the tree's vitality. This reduces the risk of diseases and pests, facilitates harvesting and keeps the plant young and productive.
The pruning action is carried out immediately after harvesting. Every two years, major pruning is carried out, every year, minor interventions that cannot and should not wait two years.
How do we intervene on them? Prevention is our main tool, for this it is essential that the olive trees are healthy and that there is great biodiversity that maintains the balance of the ecosystem.
The “biggest” enemy for the quality of the oil is the olive fly. Our experience at Zais is to have wild plants on the farm to promote the stable presence of antagonistic insects and create competition between them, which nullifies the presence and harmful action of the olive fly, among other pests.
Likewise, we use witness traps to see the evolution day by day, achieving with this ecological and biodynamic model of the olive grove, that few or no pests significantly affect our olive grove.
The rest of the pests and diseases do not usually pose serious problems and their control can be carried out through very specific actions.
At Zais, we are committed to the natural way of supplying nutrients to both the soil and the tree, and we consider it vitally important to increase the microbiology of the soil for the proper functioning of the tree. Thus, in fertigation we use liquid earthworm humus, a fertiliser with multiple nutrients, which generates a natural and balanced supply. As one of the basic principles of biodynamic agriculture is the use of compost, we apply it at the beginning of winter with a special spreader over the entire surface of the olive grove.
Along with this application of compost, we make contributions in spring via irrigation and foliar applications with organic inputs, authorized in organic and biodynamic agriculture.
Likewise, the use of biodynamic preparations and others such as compost tea, etc... are used in a complementary way.
At Zais we do continuous maintenance of the soil, tillage is non-existent, the native plant cover is mechanically cleared when it comes into competition with the olive tree itself, so that with each clearing, we are fertilizing the soil with the contribution of plant matter.
Likewise, as advised by the biodynamic model, sheep are used seasonally to control the vegetation cover and fertilize the soil at the same time.
To decompact the soil, a spike roller is used; it does not turn the soil over, it simply aerates it for about 15 cm. And with these slits we also achieve the retention of both water and humidity/dew at night.
At Zais we know about the scarcity of water due to the lack of rain, that is why we have integrated irrigation to reduce the evaporation of irrigation water.
Although the olive tree is a dryland crop, the water contribution we make is minimal and is used above all to provide liquid worm humus and for years where rain has been scarce, so that we manage to make up for this water deficit, since The objective is to achieve the level of humidity in the olive, necessary to generate a good oil.
FIELD WORK
500
We do the process of making 500 at the beginning of autumn, collecting the day's manure from the organic livestock farm near the farm.
Once the manure has been removed, we put it in the horns and bury it in an optimal area of the farm so that during the winter it takes on its necessary properties and thus fertilizes and invigorates the soil, promotes soil microbial activity and improves water retention and absorption.
This preparation is applied in the afternoon and its benefits include:
• Give fertility and strength to the land.
• Increases soil microbial activity.
• Improves water absorption and retention.
• Regulates the PH of the soil.
501
The preparation of preparation 501 involves a process of crushing in a metal mortar until it becomes powder, passing it through a fine sieve and removing the iron impurities from the mortar with a magnet.
It is applied in the morning both in spring and autumn, among other properties the most important are:
• Improves plant growth.
• Increases the internal development of the plant.
• Stimulates the plant's vegetative vigor.
• Promotes photosynthesis, improves maturation,….
This treatment along with 501 is essential in biodynamic agriculture.
compost
Compost is a natural fertilizer from the decomposition of organic waste. This decomposition is monitored for several months, controlling its temperature, humidity, texture,... and adding components to improve its structure (liquid humus, María Thun, minerals,...)
We also add biodynamic preparations (502,… 507) to harmonize and reinforce its effects when applied to the soil.
Among its properties are:
• The contribution of multiple components existing on earth.
• Increases the quality of the soil thanks to the multiple biostimulant microorganisms existing in the biodynamic compost.
• Regenerates soil fertility.
• Stimulates the activity of beneficial microorganisms.
• Makes the use of water more efficient due to its retention capacity.
humus
It is a liquid organic fertilizer from worms, it is completely natural and can be applied both on the ground and foliarly. Among other advantages of its application are:
• Quickly incorporates bacterial flora into the soil.
• Fixes and retains nutrients and fertilizing elements.
• Improves the physical structure of the land by reducing erosion.
MARIA THUN
We make the María Thun preparation on the farm, like 500 we take manure from the day at the livestock farm and mix it for an hour with Basalt and egg shell, we deposit it in pots buried in the ground and we provide the biodynamic products ( 502 to 507) for good elaboration.
This preparation is very good for decontaminating the soil and increasing its fertility.
