Blue Sky Organics

Blue Sky Organics is the home of the first certified organic olive and chilli products in South Africa- certified since 2001. Woman farmer of the year Liz Eglington is passionate about restoring our soils and eco-systems to health and balance so that our food can again provide us with vibrant health. She campaigns tirelessly against the indiscriminate and unethical use of poisons and pesticides that have destroyed our lands and reduced our food to dangerous commodities. To support these activities visit the farm, invite her to give talks and buy the delicious products.

Liz makes and sells olive oil, table olives, chutneys, stuffed olives and tapenade from the olives. The olive leaves are dried and used in healthy teas, combined with rooibos, honeybush and other products. These are exported overseas. And she sells a range of health capsules containing olive leaf, which are sold in health shops. So the leaves of pruned trees are therefore used in health products. Olive Cuttings from olive branches are used to propagate olive trees and are sold in Liz’s nursery, where she stocks and sells a range of indigenous plants and herbs. And other waste is used in the process of making more compost. Liz says, “We do our agri-processing really well now. Nothing is wasted. Organic and re-generative farming is a zero waste process”.

In order to meet this demand, Liz started giving training courses on her farm. Between 5 and 15 people attend these courses once a month (and in winter once every two months) – an intensive three-day training on principles related to the sustainable use of natural resources. “Many people wanted to grow their own food, and to farm organically but there is little information out there. How do you build a compost heap? There are lots of different options but which is correct?. So it’s easy to come where compost is made, see it being made and understand why to make it.”