Kibbutz Gezer

Our olive farm thrives in a communal settlement, focusing on organic and sustainable practices to enhance ecology and community well-being.

Location

Kibbutz Gezer, Israel

Who We Are

At Gezer olives, we grow olives organically and sustainably, without chemical ferrtilizers, pesticides or herbicides. We have four main types of olive trees: Suri,Nabali, Barnea, and Shimlali, each with its own special characteristics and taste. The olives are cold pressed at a local olive press and botled here on the kibbutz. We also grow zaatar and other herbs, lemons, produce olive oil soap and pickled eating olives. We do our best to improve the soil and the ecology.

Since the orchard is small, encompassing about 40 dunam (10 acres), each of the 1400 olive trees gets special care and attention. Interspersed among the olives are other trees- figs, pomegranates, carobs, cypress, eucalyptus, almonds and more. We have also planted 50 forest-type trees as a shelter barrier. Each winter at Tu B’Shvat (the Jewish holiday for trees), we plant more trees as a reminder of our obligation to respect and maintain nature.

The farmwork is done by kibbutz folk, both members and their offspring, as well as friends and volunteers who come for the experience. This is not by chance. In spite of all the changes in kibbutz society , we still maintain some of the ideals that were the mainstay of kibbutz ideology. We believe in the importance of self-labor and maintaining our connection with the land. Just as important, we want to avoid the exploitation of others, especially those workers who have limited rights and little power to claim what is due to them.

Kibbutz Gezer

Our 10 acres (40 dunam) of olives are part of Kibbutz Gezer. Kibbutz Gezer is situated between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Originally founded in 1945, the kibbutz dissolved and was re-established by North Americans in 1974. The majority of the older population immigrated from North America.

We share ownership of some things, make community decisions together, but at the same time each person has their own private home, job, kids, etc. We have farmland where we grow field crops like wheat and corn, 250 milking cows, 60 acres of newly planted avocado trees , a community garden, and food forest. There's a grocery store, children's houses where kids spend the day until they reach school age,

Kibbutz Gezer has a reform synagogue, and services are held every Friday evening. The pub, run by kibbutz members, is open on Thursday evenings.