Alex Ritson

So this is actually one of our early maturing varieties.

But rising temperatures have brought new possibilities.

We're farmers, we're growers at heart, so we really like that challenge of trying to produce good quality food.

We were seeing climate change coming in and making it more of a struggle to grow our conventional crops.

So then I was thinking what crops would work well with higher temperatures.

Grapes didn't suit our soil type, so olives was a bit of an extreme choice, but one we've gone for.

There's many, many challenges with it, but we're trying to use different techniques, precision farming and things I've picked up from overseas growers.

Walking through these olive groves feels like a bit of a surreal experience.

These are trees that you normally see when you're on holiday in Spain or France or Italy under the baking sun.

But here in the Lincolnshire fens, well, they appear to be doing OK.

Specialised machinery is used to crush the olives and extract the oil so it can be bottled and sold.

There's even a technique for tasting it.

Wow.

And that's the polyphenols.

Now, that's what the experts want.

Sampling his own olive oil is a labour of love for David.

He spent six years researching the crop before getting to this point.

Some peppery aftertones at the back of the throat.

Quite a mild, mellow flavour.

A bit grassy, a bit piney, something along those lines.