Fruit Rescue

21/06/2026

What a wonderful time we had today sharing the oil back with the folks who made it possible! We debriefed on picking techniques, compared the flavour to last year's batch and marvelled at the vibrancy of the greeny gold deliciousness we created together!

So many happy faces and many remarks about how awesome it is that there is a way to turn waste into wonder with this fab project. We are grateful for everyone's support to reach over 1.1 tonne of olives this year!

Once the last lot of pick ups are completed on Wednesday we'll have a little bit to sell if you'd like to support the ongoing work of Fruit Rescue. It will be $20 a litre and available from the Warrnambool Community Garden market on Wednesday 1 July - byo bottle, limit of 1 litre per customer.

Oppa! 🫒🛢️

01/06/2026

Oh my olive!!!! Not only did we make the tonne... we crushed it! 🫒

1125kg collected from many backyards and gardens all across the south west. It really goes to show that the power of the people is alive and well - when we come together, incredible things happen. 💛

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. We love our community so much!

31/05/2026

We made the tonne! How incredible to have so many people across the south west picking, plucking, scraping and raking to make olive harvest such a wonderful success.

The biggest contribution was team Vicki with an incredible 141kg and the small but mighty 300gm from Carolyn took the most adorable addition award.

We heard of picking parties with prizes for best dressed Italian peasant and people just visiting Port Fairy who decided to join in the crew and help collect olives.

What an incredible effort, thank you to everyone who shared their time to make it possible and we look forward to updating you with the total litres it made very soon!

30/05/2026

We made the most of the beautiful morning with crews picking all across the south west! The trailer is filling up and it’s always so interesting to see the different shapes and sizes of all the olives 🫒

It’s not too late to join in the fun - drop your olives off between 2-4pm on Sunday 31 May at Warrnambool Community Garden, Koroit Community Garden and Port Fairy Community House. Jump on our website to register and get all the details!

29/05/2026

Hooray! We have received our first drop of olives thanks to the amazing Herb Group at Warrnambool Community Garden and don't they look juicy!

All across the south west, people will be plucking olives all weekend to turn into a beautiful local oil and it's not your late to join!

Message your mates, host a picking party and drop your olives off between 2-4pm at Warrnambool or Koroit Community Garden and Port Fairy Community House.

Last year we managed 913kg, this year we want the tonne! Let's goooooo 🫒💪🏼

28/05/2026

Olive picking tips! 🫒

We have tried many techniques and the best seems to be putting a sheet or large tarp down then wacking the heck out of the tree, raking it, scraping the olives through the leaves to get them off.
They can be green or black, any size and a few leaves in the mix are okay.
Be sure to discard any that are damaged and don't rake up ones or collect from the ground - literally one rotten olive can taint the batch.
Put them into containers/buckets/boxes/bags, with ventilation is best.

We are looking forward to receiving lots of juicy olives, it’s not too late to book your drop off between 2-4pm Sunday in Warrnambool, Koroit and Port Fairy! Let’s crack the tonne together 💪

26/05/2026

Do you have olive trees? Have you seen trees that aren't being picked? Help turn unwanted olives into delicious, local oil THIS WEEKEND!

How to share your olives! 🌿
1. Book in your spot: https://fruitrescue.org.au/olives
Under 15kg is free to drop off, if you want some oil in return you'll make a donation to help cover processing costs for larger quantities.

2. Pick no earlier than two days before drop off 💪
Organise your helpers for a picking party and and harvest your olives on Friday 29th or Saturday 30th May. They can be green or black, any size and a few leaves in the mix are okay. Put them into containers/buckets/boxes/bags.

3. Drop off 🧺
Bring them to the Warrnambool Community Garden, Koroit Community Garden or Port Fairy Community House on Sunday 31 May between 2-4pm. We'll confirm your details and weigh your olives to work out the cost if you’d like some oil in return. We're more than happy to take olives off your hands for free if you don't want a share oil back.

4. Oil collection🛢️
After the olives are pressed, we'll email you to confirm the pick up date and time. How much you get depends on how much you contribute. Bring your container along to take home your fresh olive oil - oppa!

Help turn unwanted olives into delicious oil. We need your help to bring along olives from your trees, tell us about trees that aren’t being picked and help to pick the olives for processing.

23/05/2026

What an amazing volunteer expo - so great to talk to lots of lovely people about how they can get involved and become part of our community.

Huge thanks to the talented Tracey who made our stall so interesting and luscious! Big congratulations to our great friends .community.garden on winning the most beautiful stall. The pumpkin was nearly 15kg - what a whopper.

Thanks to Warrnambool City Council for their organisation, it's the end of National Volunteer Week and we're grateful for all the people who pitch in and make it a better place to be!

22/05/2026

We love volunteers, they are the backbone of everything we do!! 💛 Come and see the 40 amazing groups who all have opportunities to volunteer and support our community at the South West Volunteer Expo!

We'll have samples of our delicious quince and lemon preserves and 2025 vintage olive oil to try as we chat about our exciting olive harvest happening next weekend across Warrnambool, Koroit and Port Fairy - we need to beat last years total of 913kg of olives!! 🫒💪🏼

10am to 2pm at the Emmanuel Centre on Botanic Road
Lots of fun activities on offer and plenty to chat about
Lucky door prizes, sausage sizzle, food & coffee vans