Joe and Nicholas Schembri have been working their family fields in Siggiewi – an area which has been inhabited since the Maltese islands were occupied by the first farmers during the Neolithic period – for about 40 years. Nicholas works full-time in the fields, while Joe splits his time between farming and selling crops at the Pitkali fruit and vegetable market in Ta’ Qali.

Among the crops they produce are strawberries, watermelon, peppers, aubergine, cauliflower, tomatoes and potatoes, but the crops themselves, as well as the processes they use, has changed over the course of their lifetimes. Traditionally, the method used was known as baghli, meaning irrigation would only be available during the winter months from the season’s rain. This has changed today, Joe and Nicholas say, due to the use of borehole water.

“The quantity and quality of the water available has made a huge difference – we are now able to produce larger and nicer crops. The system has changed too. Before, since water was not as abundant, you needed to make sure that your produce could withstand not being watered as much. In those days, we would harvest and store seeds from year to year, but today you can buy high-grade seeds,” they say.

Five years ago, the brothers decided to begin producing olive oil. They explain, “the olive press can take up to 300kg of olives at a time. You first pick the olives from the trees, remove the leaves and place them into the press to be washed. The olives are then crushed into a paste, which is left to sit depending on the age of the olive – the greener it is, the longer you leave it. The mixture is then separated – the oil is extracted and the rest is used for fertiliser.” The brothers also produce olive oil for people who have their own olive trees, and bring their olives for them to press.

Looking to the future, the pair maintain, who knows? They may go on to bottle olives apart from only using them for oil, and even mention agro-tourism as a possibility. “But we take things step by step!”

Inigo Taylor