Our techniques and labour follow scrupulously the regulations for an ecological agriculture, and this is controlled by the CAAE (Spanish association offering certification in the sector of ecological agriculture). Our crops share their natural environment with plants or insects among others. They are islands of grass and vegetation in a roughly-cultivated environment. We avoid any useless aggression to the productive environment of the trees.

In addition to this good ecological practice, we develop and apply avant-garde cropping techniques due to their conception and technical development. An illustrative example is the preventive irrigation in winter so as to avoid the death of the trees in nights of frost over -18º C (-0.4º F).

We are pioneers in the recovery of almost-disappeared olive tree’s traditional and native varieties producing very high-quality fine olive oil.

Cornezuelo de Jaén. Almost unknown out of the province, it can be found in every region of Jaen. Traditionally, it has been used for harvesting, mainly destined to self-consumption; this is why its cultivation is very dispersed and there are very few specimens. Problems having to do with taking root have also acted as an impediment for their spreading through traditional methods. To such problems have also contributed the scarce vigour and the pruning difficulties. The name of this variety comes from its unmistakable half-mooned shape. On the contrary, the oil it produces is of a very high quality and fineness, as usually happens in the harvesting varieties.

Royal de Cazorla. It is one of the two varieties accepted by the Certificate of Origin Sierra de Cazorla, where it is native from. Its spreading is limited to the area of Quesada, Cazorla and the surroundings. This variety adapts itself very well to stressful situations (drought, cold, etc) since it is quite rustic. The fruit produced is elliptic-shaped and light-green coloured with some whitish spots, adopting a characteristic violet colour when it ripens.

A relatively late ripening and the high difficulty in the harvest caused its cultivation to become reduced in the region, almost turning it into a marginal crop. Its oil, however, has an extraordinary quality both as a variety of early harvest and as a complement to the Picual variety in a later harvest, providing it with smoother and sweeter nuances.

Calina has been a pioneer in the recovery of the aforementioned traditional varieties. By means of the most modern techniques and systems, we have managed to overcome the difficulties concerning reproduction and root-taking in our garden centre.

Thus, we manage to have enough plants of guaranteed quality. With them we can assist not only our own fields but also the needs of collaborators and customers interested in the cultivation of traditional varieties.