By Kimberly Della Donna
Kimberly Della Donna is Georgia Organics’ Director of Community Collaborations.
The brilliant Clay Oliver, of Oliver Farm, hosted one of Georgia Organics' eight conference farm field trips this February. I found my way there via a long, windy rural route through agricultural land early on a sunny Saturday morning.
Located at The Station 31702, in the heart of quaint little Pitts, GA, Clay and Valerie Oliver welcomed us to the Oliver Farm tour. It happened to be Clay's birthday, which made us feel even luckier to be there and grateful for the hospitality.
Valerie Oliver with her daughter.
Valerie Oliver, the creative genius behind The Station 31702 where Oliver Farm products are sold, greeted us all and showed us to the tasting room and event space. While Clay shared the story of how he found his way into oil production, we tasted a variety of Oliver Farms oils, including a unique green peanut oil and an irresistibly delicious pecan oil.
As we all enjoyed the unmistakable yet subtle flavors of the nuts in the oil, Clay explained that the small batches Oliver Farms produces are minimally processed which results in maximum flavor. We were lucky to have a small group, and Clay piled us all in the van and took us out to the production facility to see where the magic happens.
The Oliver Farm production building was around the corner, down a long, red clay road, surrounded by rolling fields of Oliver Family Farm land. That little building houses a lot of action! Clay is running the "nose to tail" equivalent of seed and nut processing in there — olive the goodness of these crops is redeemed from top to bottom!
After extracting the oil, the extruded fiber is milled into flour and the filtered sediment is shared with a farmer who uses it to finish his heritage hogs. This is all done onsite, with five or six presses, one centrifuge, a pump, and a mill. Amazing.
The oils and flours, made from unexpected things like okra seeds and peanuts, are packed and shipped from the location.
Oliver the world, people are loving these products! It is a small but mighty operation, for sure. Clay runs the extruders and centrifuges for 18 hours a day most weeks to keep up with the demand.
Our fabulous tour wrapped up back in the tasting room, where Clay and Valerie shared a sumptuous pecan pound cake, made from Oliver Farm pecan flour, of course. We were all blown away by how delicious and tender that cake was. Oliver taste buds were dancing!
They sent us all off with a generous gift bag stuffed with enough oil, flour, and treats to remind us of the fantastic time we spent with the Olivers for a long time to come. All of our conference attendees were so happy they made the trip.
I highly recommend the trip to The Station 31702 to check out olive the Oliver Farm offerings! Valerie has curated a wonderful selection of tantalizing pantry items, handmade crafts, and adorable home goods--it’s a great place to buy gifts, especially for yourself.
I love OLIVE the stuff in that store, especially the oils and the pecan flour! If you time your shopping trip right, you can enjoy a band and an evening of fun in their beautiful event space.
Thank you, Clay and Valerie, for introducing our conference attendees to Oliver Farm and The Station and for sharing so many treats with olive us!
To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn by searching the handle @GeorgiaOrganics or Georgia Organics.
To learn more about Oliver Farm, visit oliverfarm.com and follow them on Facebook and Instagram (@oliverfarm).