A risk, almost a decade ago, proves fruitful for olive farmer.

An Eastern Cape man with a dream, a bakkie and a handful of farm workers has managed to successfully transform his farm outside Alicedale into a thriving olive farming and processing centre.

Craig Rippon, today one of only a handful of serious olive farmers in the province, took a risk about nine years ago when he planted roughly 7,000 olive trees on his farm, Springvale.

His endeavour at the time was considered somewhat of a strange one, as the area saw game farms proliferate and olive farming was mainly being practised in the Western Cape.

The new initiative was also quite a departure from his family roots. The Rippons settled on the farm in 1842 and had always focused on sheep and cattle.

Rippon said it all began when he noticed wild olives growing in the area and all over his farm. Fuelled by this knowledge - and his love of olives - he decided in 2001 to start olive farming.

Today he is not only harvesting his third major crop, but has also turned his farm into a fully fledged olive estate after acquiring a press two months ago, allowing him to produce olive oil.

This week his farm was abuzz with activity as pickers took to the groves for this year's harvest. Rippon employs six permanent workers, four part-time, and about 20 seasonal workers to help with picking.

His trusty Isuzu making its way to the grove to collect a few crates of olives and take them up to the press - his three dogs in tow - is a familiar sight.

The project has not been without its challenges. Thanks to the drought, his dams have been pumped dry to irrigate the trees.

"Olive farming is not for the faint-hearted. People think olive trees are very hardy, but they are very easily influenced by drought. It's also a risky business as it takes about nine years before you break even," said Rippon while adjusting a ladder so one of his pickers could reach the olives at the top of a tree.

Each picker has a picking bag in which they place the olives while they are working. When a bag is full, it is emptied into a crate which is then taken to the press in a shed on the farm.

Inside the shed you are greeted by the buzzing of the press and massive white tanks. Freshly picked olives are off-loaded from the bakkie and placed in the press. The oil that emerges at the other end is then filtered until it is ready for bottling.

Rippon said the white tanks were used for the natural fermentation of the olives - one of four methods he uses to process his fruit. During the fermentation process the olives remain in brine for about nine months.

He also uses a Greek dry-salting method where the olives are placed in salt for three months, as well as a method where the olives are cut open and then washed daily for two weeks.

The pressing of olives to make olive oil is the quickest processing method.

Rippon has 12 olive varieties - some are used for oils and others for eating. In a good year, he said, his groves could produce between 70 and 100 tons of the various varieties. In 2008 and 2009, however, his trees barely produced any fruit. "The drought really had an effect on the trees, which is why I had to seriously irrigate this year."

In one part of the shed worker Lezeka Mantla is busily labelling big containers of olives. Rippon explained all his olives were packaged or bottled on the farm.

Bottled in brine and vinegar with other ingredients like lemon, garlic, origanum, thyme and coriander, the olives are also sold at farm stalls from Port Alfred to Port Elizabeth, and at festivals.

When he is not in his orchards, in the processing plant or on the road to promote his olives, Rippon offers farm tours and olive tastings to inform visitors about every aspect of these Mediterranean fruits.

He is also well travelled and has gleaned techniques from the world's greatest olive experts - including the Spaniards, the Greeks and the Portuguese.