The extra mile

You probably know that 8 years ago my partner and I decided to leave our lives in the big city of Athens and moved to the island of Crete in pursuit of a more natural way of living. After many years of foraging and producing part of our food we thought that it is about time to go the extra mile and share some of it with the rest of the world. But let me give you some more details on that.

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The Project

Two people. Four hands. A passion project.

When you quietly observe the cycles of nature, all you see is balance and harmony.
These are the two qualities, alongside superior nutritional value, that we want to embody in our organic products by embracing a romantic way of producing olive oil and herbs.

In 2013, in search of a more natural way of living, we decided to move to a tiny village in Crete. There we started cultivating abandoned land that had been free of chemicals for decades. Through the years, our desire to share the true natural food we produce gave shape to our dream, and "Four Hands" was born.

We live in a miraculous place. Mountains and sea, limited rain and abundant sun, come together to co-create the ideal micro-climate for unique products with high nutritional value, rich aromas and flavors.

Our land is free of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, hormones and GMO, and our products are authentic and free of additives. Our treasure is our soil, which we keep fertile, rich and healthy. Our great heritage is the beautiful generous trees, as well as the deep history and knowledge that comes from our ancestors, who cultivated these trees for thousands of years in this area.

_{Fotini and Stefanos}

Our vision is to produce true natural food for us and to share it with you.
All we produce comes in limited quantity.
We invite you to our world!

Olive Oil

Four Hands Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a balanced and harmonious olive oil with rich, fresh, slightly bitter flavor, and fruity aroma.

In the rocky wild terrain of Eastern Crete we produce our own authentic olive oil worth the recognition of The Protected Destination of Origin (PDO) Sitia, Lassithi, Crete. It is under the specific environmental characteristics of this small part of Earth that olive trees have flourished for millennia, producing an olive oil known for its exceptional nutritional value, its unique aroma and rich flavor. The living proof is the oldest tree in our region -over 3.000 years old- that still stands proudly and narrates the story of the olive in Crete from ancient times until now. Olive oil means a lot to us - it is the base of the Mediterranean diet, it is part of our culture, and it is also the main farming occupation for many inhabitants of the island.

We are certified organic farmers and nature lovers, and we don't use chemicals in the farming process. We cultivate our trees amongst a variety of indigenous wild herbs, almond trees and carob trees, respecting the micro-climate that the wise community of plants creates. We are actively involved at all stages from cultivation and cold extraction to packaging. In this way we are able to guarantee the superior quality of the olive oil that comes to you.

We collect the fruits of the Koroneiki olive tree variety, famous for its high polyphenol and other antioxidant levels. The harvest starts in October and goes through December. It is done in a festive atmosphere full of gratitude, despite our physical tiredness. The olives are gently picked by us, only by our own human labor, without the use of monstrous machines, respecting every tree and every fruit that we collect. The fruits are transferred in the shortest time to an organic certified factory and the olive oil is produced by the method of cold extraction.

We are driven by our passion for healthy eating and natural farming. Four Hands Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the result of our work - an honest, tasty and healthy product with exceptional physicochemical characteristics.

Certified organic
Cold extracted (temperature ≤ 27⁰C)
Protected Destination of Origin Sitia Crete (PDO)
Monovarietal - Koroneiki variety
Gently picked only by human labor
100% natural product
Fruity with slightly pungent and bitter flavor, and a delicate aroma of freshness
With minimum waste production methods and minimal impact on the environment
In limited quantity

Herbs

Organic herbs gently picked by hand and naturally dried, they come as whole leaves in the most natural way.

The healing power of herbs and their protective role for humanity throughout history in all places and all cultures has always inspired us to learn more about these generous plant-allies. We have taken several seminars about herbalism and aromatherapy to deepen our knowledge and understanding. Since the beginning of our farming project, we always knew that herbs had won a great part of our hearts.

We grow our herbs amongst indigenous herbs and trees in their natural environment, cultivating varieties and species that perfectly fit the micro-climate. And it is in this micro-climate that herbs grow strong, full of incredible aromas and flavors.

Certified organic
Hand picked
Naturally dried
Only by human labor
100% natural product
Whole leaves
Naturally caffeine free
In limited quantity

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All the above is practically a preview of our new site: https://fourhands.gr/ witch you are welcome to visit and tell me what you think, since this is also made by our four hands as well as every little detail that was necessary to get to the final result. And if it was a lot of hard work to produce the olive oil, create a brand name and make sure that everything is in order during the bottling, the last step was truly exhausting. Because when you present a new product to the market you have to deal with some concepts completely unfamiliar to the life of a farmer. I am talking of course about marketing, sales, building a direct distribution channel and so on. You are getting the idea why I told you in my previous post that I had a very busy summer. And we are not even halfway completing that last step!

Can you help?

Which get us to your part in the story! If you live in Europe and you know a store near you that sells high quality olive oil please let us know so that we can contact them and maybe start a cooperation. That way you'll be a tremendous help for us and you may have the chance to purchase the fruit of our labor right at your doorstep :)

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All the pictures and the words are Fotini's and mine.

Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.

Commenting, upvoting and rebloging are highly appreciated!