The sun, the terroir, and the quiet power of care.
At first glance, planting the smallest olive cutting might seem like a simple cost-saving decision. It’s true—smaller cuttings are less expensive to buy, and the upfront investment in materials like stakes, irrigation lines, and labor might seem lighter.
But at Dan Dan Farm, we’ve learned that a small cutting is far more than an economical choice. It’s a promise. A beginning.
A tiny olive cutting carries no baggage. It doesn’t have to unlearn or adapt from another environment. Instead, it starts from zero—free to root itself deeply into its new home, absorbing the terroir with every fiber of its being.
It is, in essence, a baby. One that learns from the sunlight that touches it, the direction of the wind that sways it, the rhythm of the fog and the scent of lavender in bloom. It grows with the seasons, slowly imprinting the land’s unique story into its own.
Because it starts small, it focuses all its energy where it matters most—in the roots. While bigger trees might struggle to adapt or recover from transplant shock, the small cutting embraces its surroundings, growing resilient from the ground up. It belongs.
And in return, it receives more of our attention. More of our care. More time spent checking, pruning, watching, watering. We grow alongside it. We form a bond.
The love we pour into that fragile green stem becomes something real—visible in every inch of growth. That’s how we believe great olive oil begins: not with shortcuts, but with connection. With adaptation. With love.
So while the smallest cutting may seem humble today, in time, it becomes the most rooted, most resilient, and—very possibly—the most expressive tree on the farm. A future champion of flavor. A true product of its land.
And that’s what extra virgin olive oil should be—a story of deep roots, sunlit days, and the quiet miracles of growth.
