Santa Inés Mission Mills
Olive Oil
In the early 1990s former owners of the mills, Harry and Ellen Knill, planted 78 Manzanillo variety olive trees along the perimeter of the property. In 2007 the Santa Inés Mission Mills Committee and the SBTHP Board of Directors endorsed the idea of planting additional olive trees on the property to interpret the mission period agricultural history of the site as well as provide an income stream to help manage the existing cultural and natural resources, and for development of a future state historic park. In July and August of 2007 crews and volunteers planted more than 2,400 olive trees on the SBTHP property including Mission, Manzanillo, Grappolo, Lucca, and Arbequina varieties.
The olive grove at the Santa Inés Mission Mills. Photo by Christa Clark Jones
Picking
SBTHP holds an annual community olive picking days at the Mills property, usually in between late October and early December, depending on the ripening cycle for that year’s crop. The event always includes a free lunch for volunteers and a tour of the Mills property. More than 50 volunteers joined a crew of six professional olive pickers to pick the Santa Inés Mission Mills olive crop.
Crushing
Immediately after they are picked, we send the olives to nearby Figueroa Farms in Santa Ynez for crushing. The olives are dumped into a hopper, then up a conveyor to the processing plant. First, the fruit is run through a powerful blower that removes twigs and leaves. Next, it is run through the crusher, which grinds the olives and the pits into a paste. A machine called a malaxer separates the liquid (water and oil) from the olive paste, and then the oil is separated from the water in a centrifuge. The solid waste is returned to the olive groves for fertilizer and the oil is pumped into barrels for transportation and storage.
SBTHP olives arrive at Figueroa Farms. photo by Wayne Sherman.
Olives begin their journey into the crusher. Photo by Wayne Sherman.
Oil in barrels ready for bottling. Photo by Michael Imwalle.
SBTHP olives arrive at Figueroa Farms. photo by Wayne Sherman.
Bottling
Santa Inés Mission Mills Olive oil is bottled less than five miles away at the Figueroa Farms processing facility where the fruit is crushed. The Santa Inés Mission Mills Olive oil is available year-round at the gift shop at El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park, and on the SBTHP website.
Santa Inés Mission Mills Olio Nuovo
Olio Nuovo is the first press of the season. It is bottled unfiltered, immediately after crushing, and has an intense grassy, peppery fresh flavor. It is loaded with polyphenols, making Olio Nuovo the healthiest oil available from each harvest. Produced from a blend of Arbeqina, Grappalo, Lucca, Manzanillo, and Mission olives, this special early release is available for a limited time just in time for the Holidays. Order yours online or pick some up in the museum shop at El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park.
