Belfast is a city located in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the capital and largest city and has around 300,000 inhabitants.
Belfast is located on the east coast of Northern Ireland. To the northwest of the city, there are a series of hills. Among them we can find Cavehill Hill, which is believed to have inspired Jonathan Swift’s novel, Gulliver’s Travels. When the Titanic was built in Belfast in 1912, Harland and Wolff had the largest shipyard in the world.
There are two airports in the city – George Best Airport in Belfast City, along with Belfast Lough and Belfast International Airport, which is located near Lake Neagh. Queen’s University is the most important university in the city. The University of Ulster also has a campus in the city, where fine arts and design studies are studied.
Belfast has a temperate climate. The average daily temperature is 18 °C (6° the minimum and 31° the maximum). Climate change is also affecting Belfast, which in turn is helping the protagonist of our story, who we will talk about soon.
Peter Emerson is a 75-year-old former military man who bought an abandoned shelter. Here, he grows trees that would never be associated with Northern Ireland, as they are not the easiest crop to grow in this type of climate. This former naval officer moved to Belfast from Africa where he served in 1975. During his time in Africa, he became familiar with the olive tree.
As he did not receive a government pension after coming home to the United Kingdom, combined with the fact that his economic situation was not the best, he began to cultivate in his home. There was a large piece of land that allowed him to practice agriculture, and this served to feed him as well.
Peter also grows figs, plums, avocados, etc. Nobody believed that he could really grow these kinds of trees, crops that have never been associated with Northern Ireland. Even his own friends did not believe it until they saw what he was doing. He attributes all the credit to his crops. According to him, «I only pick them and eat them.”
All the production is used to make table olives. While in Africa, he learned how to make them, so he consumes them little by little as snacks or in salads.
This is one more example of emotional olive growing. In this case, his passion for olive trees ignored the scientific and refuted impossibility of being able to grow olive trees in Northern Ireland. This story goes to show that ultimately, passion prevails over any impediment you might have in your way.