| Owners | Brent Hesselyn and Nancy Macy |
| Managers | Peter and Rae Coubrough |
| Area | 11.04 hectares.Undulating with a Northerly aspect |
| Soil type | Sandy clay loam over Moutere clay and gravels |
| Fertility | Poor - moderate (pH5.9) Preferable to be 6.0+ |
| Rainfall | 900 to 1200mm per year. More with La Nina, less with El Nino. |
| Prevailing wind | Predominantly Northerly sea breeze especially with La Nina, South westerlies with El Nino. |
| Sunshine | 2400 hours per year |
| Mean Temperature | 24.6 Cdeg with a 9.5 Cdeg range |
| Frosts | 28 frost days on average with a maximum of -8 Cdeg. |
| Hail | Frogs End seems to be outside the main hail belts. Late summer hail would be a problem with fruit. |
| Olive Trees | Frogs End is currently planted at 6 metre spacings with l550 olive trees. |
| Main varieties: | Barnea, Manzanillo, Sevillano, Mission, UCl3A6, Koroneiki, Picual, Frantoia (Corregiola) |
| Minor varieties: | Leccino, Moriaola, Sourani, Souri, Ascolano, Nabali
Mouhasan, Lucca, Super, Verdale, Paragon, South Australian Verdale, Barouni. |
The first plantings were in 1993. These are planted in the grove below the pine trees. These are now bearing fruit.
Our emphasis is on oil production though some pickling varieties have been planted. Some Picholene are to be planted this autumn to assist with the pollenation of the Barnea olives.
The trees have been supplied by Waimea Nurseries, Ponder Estate and Marlborough Olives. Frogs End has imported several varieties from Australia and california using Waimea Nurseries' quarantine facility.
Prior to planting, the property was deep ripped at 6 metre spacings in two directions. 2 kilometres of drain coil has also been installed to intercept the rips. The ground was then heavily limed then rotary hoed.
Turf ryegrass and browntop was then sown. The olives were planted out when about 800mm tall. No irrigation is installed.
Soil and leaf tests are taken each year to determine fertilizer needs. The soil is generally deficient in Boron, Zinc and Magnesium.
http://www.nzero.co.nz/treecrop/conf98/frogsend.htm
