According to Greek mythology, the olive tree sprung from the earth when Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, struck it with her spear. In doing so, she won a contest against the Sea God, Poseidon, and created the original ancestor of all olive trees.
Today, the Greek people value the olive tree for both practical and symbolic reasons.
Technically a fruit, the olive is classified as a "drupe," or “stone fruit.” Other popular drupes include peaches, mangos, cherries, plums, nectarines, almonds and pistachios.
Cultivated throughout much of the Mediterranean for at least 5,000 years, there is carbon-dating evidence of olive trees growing in Spain 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. These trees live remarkably long lives, often hundreds of years and sometimes more. The carbon-dated world record for a living olive tree stands at an incredible 2,000 years.
There are hundreds of varieties of olive trees, but all of them belong to the same scientific family, Olea europea. "Olea" is the Latin word for "oil" and reflects the high oil content of this food.
In the U.S., five olive varieties make up most of the market share: Manzanillo, Sevillano, Mission, Ascolano and Barouni. These are grown primarily in California.
Mediterranean olive varieties include Cipresino and Trantoio (Italy), Bical and Lemono (Spain), Adriamitini and Kalamata (Greece).
The best quality Kalamata olives are cultivated in the prime olive-growing orchards of Messinia and Laconia, near the Ionian Sea in southern Greece. Kalamatas from this region offer a truly unique taste experience.
We invite you to come along with us as we explore the unique journey our Kalamata olives take, starting with…
Treating the Olive Orchard as a Living Organism
In recent years, there’s been increasing discussion about the way plants are grown. The shift from small family farms to huge industrial farms has raised concerns about decreased nutrient values in food and depleted soils.
Researchers are finding that chemical-intensive farming practices cause erosion, acidification, salinization and loss of genetic diversity in the soil, as well as the release of greenhouse gases.
The damage is making it harder for soils to support the production of nutrient-rich foods.
Nearly a century ago, a group of German farmers started to notice the damage chemical farming was doing to crops and the earth. Concerned, they got together and developed a set of standards designed to protect healthy, life-sustaining agriculture.
Calling their earth-conscious approach to farming biodynamic, they named their organization after the Greek Goddess of the Harvest, Demeter.
Biodynamic agriculture has a lot in common with organic agriculture. Like organic, it doesn’t use any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.
But it goes even deeper, with biodynamic farmers pursuing the goal of regenerating and maximizing soil fertility, and ultimately making a farm completely self-sustaining.
Biodynamic farmers emphasize following the cycles of nature and returning life back to the soil. They do this by planting a diversity of crops and working to ensure all inputs (fertilizers, natural pest controls) come from within the farm.
Biodynamic farming is “regenerative organic” farming. It aims to regenerate the natural soil fertility and biodiversity that has been destroyed by modern agricultural methods, reinvigorating life on the planet from the soil up.
Here’s more of the back story…
How the Founder of Waldorf Education Revolutionized the Farming Industry
In the 1920s, Rudolf Steiner, the highly respected philosopher and founder of Waldorf education, was approached by a group of farmers alarmed at what was happening on their farms.
Their seeds weren’t germinating…
Their food wasn’t as tasty…
Even their animals weren’t as healthy.
They were noticing the effects of industrialized agriculture, with its repurposed nitrogen fertilizer and synthetic pesticides.
Steiner examined the problem and offered his sage advice: Stop viewing farms as factories and instead see them as the living organisms they truly are.
It was this group of German farmers, agreeing with Steiner’s observations, who in 1928, formed Demeter International, now called Biodynamic Federation Demeter International.
The world’s oldest ecological certification organization, Demeter sets the standards for biodynamic just like the National Organic Program (NOP) sets standards for organic.
Demeter is well known within Central Europe. In fact, a full 10% of German organic farmland is Demeter Certified Biodynamic.
However, the U.S. has been slower to catch on.
The American wine industry was the first to take note. U.S. winemakers observed that the finest wines in the world were coming from biodynamic vineyards. This led them to adopt biodynamic practices on their own land.
And every year, more growers are shifting to this life-affirming way of farming.
So, how does Demeter’s biodynamic certification differ from Certified Organic?
Certified Biodynamic and Traditional Certified Organic: What's the Difference?
While noting that many organic farmers recognize the importance of caring for their soil and may already practice some of the biodynamic methods, let’s take a closer look at how Certified Biodynamic® standards compare to NOP’s Certified Organic standards…
| Places no limits on importing organic fertilizers from outside the farm |
Focuses on producing nutrient-rich fertilizer within the farm – only a limited amount of fertilizer can be imported, and it must be Demeter® certified. |
| Allows imported organic pesticides |
Manages pests by creating a biologically diverse habitat that encourages balanced predator-prey relationships |
| Does not require the use of livestock |
Requires the integration of livestock to improve soils and help generate fertilizer within the farm |
| Does not require crop rotation |
Requires crop rotation and intensive use of cover crops to pull carbon from the air and add nutrients to the soil |
| Organic feed for livestock can come from anywhere in the world |
At least 50% of livestock feed must be grown on the farm, with the rest required to be organic or biodynamic |
| Standard requiring farmers to “conserve biodiversity” can be poorly enforced, leading to the reality of monoculture in practice |
Requires that a minimum of 10% of total farm acreage be set aside for biodiversity |
| Focused on how crops are treated, this standard allows for only one section of a farm to be certified, raising the potential for cross-contamination |
Focuses on treating the whole farm as a living organism – this standard requires that the whole farm be certified |
| Product certification focuses mainly on ingredients used |
Product certification focuses on all agricultural ingredients used, with 12 Biodynamic® processing standards applied in addition to growing standards |
Certified Demeter Biodynamic® is as good as it gets in agriculture – it’s the platinum standard for high-quality, nutrient dense food.
Based on the importance of whenever possible to strive for this higher standard, we’d like to introduce you to our delicious olives produced from Demeter Certified Biodynamic® orchards and farms.
Introducing Our Solspring® Kalamata Olives
We’re excited to bring you our Solspring® brand of olives, exclusively produced on small biodynamic orchards and farms in Greece:
Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic Kalamata Pitted Olives:
Grown and cultivated on small family orchards in the mountainous regions of Messinia and Laconia in southern Greece, our pitted olives bring you the benefit of regenerative farming practices. These rich, firm olives are full of nutrition and flavor, perfect for livening up salads, pasta or pizza, or simply savored alone as a mouthwatering snack.
Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic Kalamata Whole Olives:
Just like our pitted olives, only without the stone removed. Many olive aficionados prefer whole olives because, they say, they are firmer and more flavorful. The reason for this has to do with the brining process that all olives undergo, which we’ll discuss below.
How Our Solspring® Olives Stand Apart
Authentic Kalamata olives come from Kalamon olive trees in southern Greece, receiving their name from Kalamata, the city where they were first grown.
European Union (EU) law designates Kalamata olives as “Protected Geographical Status” and “Protected Designation of Origin,” which prohibits labeling a product as "Kalamata" unless the olives are grown and processed in this specific region.
However, outside of the European Union countries, there are not any binding legal standards for labeling of Kalamata olives.
In the U.S., for example, many canned and jarred olives are referred to as "Kalamata-style" or "Kalamata-type" olives, but they are not authentic Kalamata olives.
Our Solspring® Biodynamic® Kalamata Whole Olives and Pitted Olives are true Kalamatas, grown in Messinia or Laconia, on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in southern Greece.
Our Demeter Certified Biodynamic® supplier goes to great lengths to ensure the highest quality Kalamata olives by…
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Taking extra care not to collect damaged olives.
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Performing extensive quality checks of products after harvest.
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Taking samples throughout the process to analyze quality.
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Bringing production quantities to their own warehouse within three to four months after the harvest to help ensure the highest quality control standards.
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Monitoring salt content, pH and acidity of olives at regular intervals throughout the brining/fermentation process to help ensure the highest olive quality.
This careful process gives our Solspring® Biodynamic® Kalamata Whole Olives and Pitted Olives exceptional flavor and quality.
In addition to the quality processes our supplier employs, Kalamatas are naturally good sources of iron, calcium, copper, vitamins A and E, and especially monounsaturated fats.
With their blend of nutrition and flavor, they’re perfect for adding personality to salads, pizzas or pastas, or simply savored alone as a mouthwatering healthy snack.
Whole vs. Pitted Olives – Three Factors to Consider
If you’re not yet an olive aficionado, you may wonder why anyone would choose an olive with the rock-hard stone inside. It has to do with flavor, texture and convenience.
All olives are naturally bitter, so they must be cured – either in water, brine, sea salt, or lye. This process removes the bitter oleuropein, making them not only edible but also delicious.
As a rule, a whole olive is a bit firmer than a pitted one and retains a more pronounced olive flavor. This is because the pitted olive is more exposed to the brine, causing it to soften more and pick up a bit more of the brine flavor.
So, while whole olives may win the most votes for flavor and texture, pitted olives win the vote for convenience, hands down.
Try our Solspring® Biodynamic® Kalamata Whole Olives on a charcuterie board at your next party or in a braised meat dish where they can release their flavor slowly. But be sure to warn your family about the pits.
Enjoy our Solspring® Biodynamic® Kalamata Pitted Olives on pizza or mix into a salad or pasta dish with grated parmesan and artichokes. They also pair brilliantly with diced tomatoes, cucumber and feta cheese for a classic Mediterranean salad.
Order Our Biodynamic® Olives Today, and Enjoy an Extraordinary Culinary Experience
Whether olives came from the spear of Athena, or sprung up more naturally, they have a long tradition of imparting health and flavor to Mediterranean cuisine.
Kalamatas have come to be prized for the distinctive rich, pungent olive flavor they impart to dishes and snacks, as well as for their excellent nutrient profile.
We are pleased to offer you Solspring® Biodynamic® Organic Kalamata Whole Olives and Pitted Olives, grown according to the highest regenerative standards on the planet.
We believe that biodynamic regenerative farming is the hope of the future.
By choosing biodynamic, you support farmers who are working to live in harmony with the earth and its natural cycles. By choosing biodynamic, you do your small part to encourage biodiversity, and nourish the soil so that it can produce food for centuries to come.
And you get to enjoy the health and flavor benefits that come from rich soil and earth-conscious cultivation.
Join the biodynamic revolution, and treat yourself and your family to a truly extraordinary culinary experience. Order our Biodynamic® Organic Kalamata Whole Olives and Pitted Olives .