Harvesting & Distillation of Organic Tea Tree Oil - Entire Process Explained

In this episode, we visit Alex from Olive Gap Farm to learn about Tea Tree Oil Harvesting & Distillation.

▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

00:00 - Intro
03:14 - Part 1: Hand Harvesting the Tea Trees
10:15 - Part 2: Machine Harvesting the Tea Trees
14:49 - Part 3: The Distillation Process Explained
31:16 - Part 4: Repurposing the Exhausted Biomass

This video was initially filmed to help us remember everything that we learned in preparation for harvesting our own plantation, but as we progressed, I realised that it would be a shame not to share it. 3 days of editing, and 9 hours of uploading later - here we are!

In our few days on the farm we had the opportunity to not only learn about hand harvesting, but also see a mechanical harvester in action, and the efficiency it brings. We then had a chance to follow the distillation process step-by-step as Alex explained how it all works.

If you’d love to learn more about Olive Gap Farm and their produce, you may use the link below :)
https://www.olivegapfarm.com.au/

As far as our plantation goes, we have decided that considering out tea trees are more than 3 metres tall, we will be cutting them at waist-level with a chainsaw first – so that the process is more ergonomic, and also so that the new growth springing from the trunks won’t need to compete with grass and weeds for sunlight. Then, for consequent harvests, it will just be the smaller branches regrowing that can be harvested with a sugar cane knife, or something similar.

Also, for anyone wondering about the ideal time in the year for harvesting tea trees, in Australia this is generally done from July through to September. The is because once the tea trees are trimmed, there may be a risk of the regrowth being damaged by frost. However, most of the regrowth happens during Spring, so we don’t want to prune them half way through the peak growth period. It’s all about finding the happy medium.

About Us:
We're Alex & Sarah, a young couple on the North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, who decided to move off grid and leave the city life behind in search of more peace and simplicity. Follow our journey as we share what we learn along the way while building our Fully Off Grid Home & restoring our Overgrown Organic Tea Tree Plantation.

Filmed with our GoPro HERO9 Black Camera & DJI Mini SE Drone