Georgia Magazine - October 2024 - 34

GEORGIA Cooks
By Jane F. Garvey * Photos courtesy of Oliver Farm
W
Oliver Farm produces specialty oils, flours
for a growing market
hile Georgia is rapidly advancing its reputation for
fine olive oils, Oliver Farm in Pitts is adding oils
from other sources to the state's agriculture.
The 1,500-acre family-owned farm in Wilcox County
produces a wide variety of food products and has been
recognized as a Georgia Centennial Farm for being a working
farm for more than 100 years. The farm has been in the family
for five generations on the paternal side and six on the maternal
side, Clay Oliver says, adding that much of the acreage is rented
to neighboring farmers.
Brother Clint Oliver runs the farm, while Clay Oliver
manages and processes the sunflower crop and runs the oil
business. Clay's wife, Valerie, develops the recipes for the
products and helps manage the store, The Station 31072,
where the farm's products are sold.
In addition to sunflower oil, the farm produces pecan,
green peanut, pumpkin seed, benne seed, nigella seed and okra
seed oils, plus infused oils and flours made from pecans,
peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and okra seeds, among
other products.
Clay Oliver's curiosity was piqued in 2008 when there was
a lot of talk about alternative fuel sources. He began researching
the topic, visiting oil-production facilities and meeting people
who persuaded him to begin producing food-grade oils, rather
than fuel oils.
" I grew my first sunflowers for oil in 2012, " he says.
That fall yielded a good crop of peanuts for the farm,
making peanut oil possible. And his brother also suggested
producing pecan oil.
Clay Oliver had learned about the cold-pressing process,
used to produce olive oil, which retains the nutritional value
of the material being pressed as well as the natural flavor and
color. By the end of 2012, he had produced his first crop of sunflowers,
had pressed the seeds for oil and had pressed pecans
and peanuts for their oils as well. Oliver Farm Artisan Oils was
launched.
Marketing the new products also became a family
project, as Clay and Valerie Oliver with their daughters, Maggie
and Mollie, began attending events, such as the Decatur Book
Festival, where they could showcase and sell their oils. Visitors
sampled the oils and were intrigued by some of the lesscommon
varieties, such as okra-seed oil.
Persuading top-shelf culinary chefs and restaurateurs to
take interest in the oils came next, and then marketing the oils
34 Georgia Magazine October 2024
Sunfl ower seeds are tasty and nutritious, as is the oil they produce
when pressed. In the summertime, Oliver Farm opens its sunfl ower
fi elds to visitors for photos and cut fl owers to take home.
to home cooks followed. In 2019, the couple opened
The Station 31072 shop.
Today visitors can purchase Oliver Farm oils, flours and
other products at The Station 31072 as well as shop for art,
handmade pottery and locally handcrafted furniture. In the
summertime when the sunflowers are in bloom, the farm offers
passes to visit the fields to explore, take photos and cut flowers
to take home.
Here are some recipes from Oliver Farm and Valerie Oliver,
who created them.
Jane F. Garvey is a food, wine and travel writer from Decatur.
When you go
The Station 31072, 110 7th Ave. W., Pitts. (229) 406-0906;
oliverfarm.com.
http://www.oliverfarm.com
Georgia Magazine - October 2024

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