Semi autonomous organic olive grove
Peloponnese
Our project/ Notre projet:
We are Marc and Evi, two olive growers and farmers who have a 1,5-hectare grove in the southwest of the Peloponnese. We produce olive oil, olive paste, aromatic herbs, soaps, etc… The grove is organic but we tend towards permaculture. We mostly work on enriching our soils to permit them to be resilient in front of a dry summer and the global warming evolution. Mention that we do not water our tree which is the main point of our agriculture. Rather than oil, we prefer to use our hands, Human Intelligence and intuition, love of nature in our work .
The house on the grove is thought to be autonomous: the equipmenst wors thanks to the rainwater and the sun with a zero carbon footprint for a small but comfortable amount of electricity, a solar water heater, and dry toilets. The WWOOFers sleep on the mezzanine that has two single beds and one double bed (photos are provided).
WWOOFers activities :
There are different phases of work in the olive grove of the Trois Tortues :
- Harvest of the olives for table and selecting/sorting,. Usualy from 15 October to 25 October.
- Main harvest of the olives for the oil from 5 November to 20 November.
- Preparation of the grove for next year (manure spreading) at the end of the second harvesting in November.
- Pruning/cleaning the trees in february
- Rremoving suckers from the base of trees in June.
During the harvest you can follow the whole production process of olive oil from the trees to the mill and taste our very fresh olve oil.
- Depending on the needs some extra construction and houskeeping activities can be provided.
A typical day in Les Trois Tortues/The Three Terrapins:
- The WWOOFers and us would start working around 8:30 am after breakfast.
- Coffee break around 11:00 a.m.
- lunch pause at greek hours around 2:00 P.M.
- In afternoon we put the olives into burlap bags and bring them to the mill.
- "Free" evening meal..
All household tasks and meal prepartion are done together. Evi can guide you by showing you some tips of greek cookery since she gives Greek cooking classes in Athens.
The general organizationand the profile of food are discussed for optimization..
Leisures and hobbies:
After the agricultural works, Evi is a French/Greek translator and Greek cooking teacher, Marc is drawing comics.
Discover the Surroundings:
The area is very beautiful and there are many things to discover. The pretty village of Methoni is 4km away from the olive grove. Nearby, you can visit Pylos, the beach of Voidokilia, one of the most beautiful beaches in Greece ... and the fort of Neokastro with its breathtaking view! Pylos, Finikounda, Koroni, Kalamata, the amazing Nestor's Palace in Chora and so on...
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Learning opportunities
Fruit or nut farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Production farm
Certified organic
1.4
Hectares
|
3.5
Acres
Marc
Member since 2022
Languages spoken:
English, French, Greek
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 94%
Response time: typically within 6 days
Peloponnese
Athens or Kalamata
Reviews
Aleyana
United States
•
February 2025
I had a wonderful experience with Marc and Evi! They are incredibly generous and hardworking, and they made me feel very much at home during my stay. Pruning the olive trees was very satisfying, and it was cool to see the before versus after of what we had accomplished!
Clothilde
France
•
January 2025
My Stay at « Three Tortoises » is an unforgettable experience !
This small organic olive farm, enhanced by a charming house at the heart of the property, is the project imagined and built by Marc and Evi.
There is something truly magical about this place!
I spent a week there with Marc, taking care of the olive trees and building a wooden planter box to grow some vegetables in the garden.
I discovered breathtaking landscapes and an inspiring life project passionately carried out by Marc and Evi. A true labor of love.
Thanks to Marc, I learned essential techniques for maintaining olive trees, harvesting... And thanks to Evi, I discovered Greek dishes so delicious that words cannot do them justice!
I can only encourage you to visit this place yourself—it’s a unique and inspiring experience.
Thank you so much, Marc and Evi, for this wonderful stay. I’m so happy we were able to share a little piece of our lives together.
I hope to see you again very soon.
Clothilde
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Pascal
Germany
•
November 2023
I had a wonderful time with Marc, Evi and the three other volunteers. Besides the working Marc and Evi really took care of us, cooked awesome greek dishes, took us to the olive mill, went often to a beach for swimming with us in the afternoons or went to archeologic sites. What is really amazing about them, is that they always let us join in decision taking, wether it was about when to have a break, what we wanted to eat, where to go for swimming and so on. They are both very affectionate people with a lot of stories to tell. Also being a group where three languages are spoken was no problem, as they always cared that everybody understands. All in all I can clearly recommend doing a wwoof with them and enjoy the beatiful contryside as well as there beautiful house and property. 5 out of 5 stars ;-)
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Julia
Germany
•
November 2022
We would definitely recommend a stay at Evi's and Marc's organic olive grove. They are super kind and welcoming and they make you feel at home. We learned every step of the olive harvest and they also showed us the process in the mill for the final olive oil. For our purpose to understand how organic olive oil is produced it was a perfect stay. Thank you Evi and Marc for this special time! :-)
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