“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” ― Diana Scharf
The rancho just received the good news that our 2014-15 olive oil has been certified extra virgin. Besides the stewards of the rancho, possibly only one other person knows how much work went into bringing in a crop from last year -- possibly one of the most difficult growing seasons on record. One has only to read the blog for the last year to catch a glimpse of discouraging news layered upon angst layered upon challenges from nature layered upon -- one gets the picture. After a particularly cruel freak hail storm, it was thought the entire crop was destroyed.
And yet, we continued on toward our goal, which was seemingly ridiculous to most, because we were focused on achieving extra virgin certification when most people kept commenting that they couldn't see any olives. We could, though, and persevered on through snakes, construction, battles against other pests, low crop yields, coyote attacks, and finding a mill that would accept us with a low crop yield.
The ranch manager and The Chief are often asked why it is a human would do this to themselves. Perhaps it is good to have dreams and goals. Perhaps it sharpens one's mind to always push one's self to pursue excellence. In case you happen to be a casual reader of this blog, while excellence is always pursued, failures do occur along the way. Due to some OC tendencies in the group, failures are taken hard and to heart, although the nice thing about being on a ranch is that it can literally be said that it is time to get up, dust one's self off, and move on.
So, you're guessing, we're now going to enjoy our victory, right? Of course not. We've got to get that oil bottled, labeled, and into a few competitions, just to see how it stacks up. Why, you may ask. Isn't the certification enough validation? Of course not. It is important to learn more and to gauge the balance we've achieved in blending the oil. Our oil will never be one of the truly throat-catching oils which provokes fits of coughing. By the way, those are the oils that generally receive the highest marks, due to the high anti-oxidant levels. Be that as it may, the model for our oil is an oil that is approachable, an oil that just begs for a piece of bread to be dipped into it, an oil that we like -- how's that for a reason?
We always dream of achieving perfection in olive oil, in wine, and in what we grow, cook, and create. Along with those dreams come ideas as to how we can streamline, hone, and improve, and along with those ideas come methods by which to achieve those goals, and with those goals come deadlines. Truly, goals are dreams with deadlines.
Our 2014-15 olive oil will soon be released. Why not treat yourself to a bottle of our liquid golden sunshine and share our dream? It's good and good for you -- a win/win, in our book.
Happy Trails!
The Ranch Manager
And yet, we continued on toward our goal, which was seemingly ridiculous to most, because we were focused on achieving extra virgin certification when most people kept commenting that they couldn't see any olives. We could, though, and persevered on through snakes, construction, battles against other pests, low crop yields, coyote attacks, and finding a mill that would accept us with a low crop yield.
So, you're guessing, we're now going to enjoy our victory, right? Of course not. We've got to get that oil bottled, labeled, and into a few competitions, just to see how it stacks up. Why, you may ask. Isn't the certification enough validation? Of course not. It is important to learn more and to gauge the balance we've achieved in blending the oil. Our oil will never be one of the truly throat-catching oils which provokes fits of coughing. By the way, those are the oils that generally receive the highest marks, due to the high anti-oxidant levels. Be that as it may, the model for our oil is an oil that is approachable, an oil that just begs for a piece of bread to be dipped into it, an oil that we like -- how's that for a reason?
We always dream of achieving perfection in olive oil, in wine, and in what we grow, cook, and create. Along with those dreams come ideas as to how we can streamline, hone, and improve, and along with those ideas come methods by which to achieve those goals, and with those goals come deadlines. Truly, goals are dreams with deadlines.
Our 2014-15 olive oil will soon be released. Why not treat yourself to a bottle of our liquid golden sunshine and share our dream? It's good and good for you -- a win/win, in our book.
Happy Trails!
The Ranch Manager
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