Hasbaya, is a small mountain town, situated at the base of the ‘Jabal El Sheikh’, Mountain, as it was originally named or ‘Mount Hermon’, as it is better known.

Hasbaya, is so full of history and stories to be told, all one needs to do is seek out and give time to an ‘elder’, of the town and listen to what he has to say.

As you enter Hasbaya, the capital of the ‘Wadi Taym’, as it is historically known, it lies peacefully at the foothills of the ‘Jabal El Sheikh’, with it’s lush green valleys and mountains, you will notice, the hillsides that have been terraced and planted with the beautiful silver green Olive trees, some more than a thousand years of age. Grown by our Grandfathers and the Romans, they still stand tall and mighty, gnarled with age and time, scarred by the raging winds of Winter, covered by a thick coat of snow and fed by the heavy rains and dried by the heat of the long Summer days. Some of their trunks formed like the face of an old man or woman, their limbs, like tired arms wrapped around themselves, each a story to tell.

I strongly believe, that each Olive tree, has seen a past that we do not know, they have been seen and touched by forgotten eyes and hands, by people that have passed by in time.

It may be, as one sits beneath an Olive tree, he may have dreams and he may imagine what Prophet, what Leader, what girl or woman had sat where he was sitting now. Or maybe in his imagination, he would hear the laughter of children as they played beneath the Olive trees during the picking of the Olive season, those thousands of years ago, and what sights and dreams that they may have had.

The Olive trees in Hasbaya, are grown 700 metres above sea level. The Olives and the Olive Oil, in Hasbaya, is called ‘Baladi’, the reason being, that our Olive trees only source of water is from the natural rains and snows that fall in the Winter season and what the mountains and the terraced hills may store within their hearts to nourish the Olive trees during the rest of the seasons of the year. Our olives are hand picked, (no machines are used for picking in the olive season), this method is to avoid bruising or breaking of the Olive flesh as this brings up the level of acidity of the Olive Oil when pressed. No fertilizers or sprays are used on our Olive trees, they grow as naturally as they were created. Allowing us to reap Olives and produce the finest and tastiest of Olive Oil, the colour of a rich royal green and which has a taste of bitterness and a warm peppery feeling at the back of the throat and a tantalizing fruity taste in the mouth.

Many years ago, in the days of our Grandfathers and Fathers, the freshly picked Olives were taken to the local press, where the men would take with them loaves of bread which were baked on an oven called the ‘Sarjj’, and as the pure, fresh Olive Oil pours out of the press, they would dip their bread into the tasty fresh Olive Oil, which in those days was called ‘Bou Bayaa’ and eat the dripping bread with much delight and satisfaction. This was a season that the locals looked forward to. As the long Winter days come upon them, the produce of Olives and Olive Oil in Hasbaya, plays a very important role in the survival of this town and the South of Lebanon. The people always depend on a good Olive and Olive oil season for their Livelihood, for the Olive tree is a blessed tree and is always generous in it’s bounty and the giving of it’s fruit to mankind.