Porcupine Hills Olive and Guest Farm is situated within the Groenlandberg Conservancy, in the Overberg. Although the 220 hectare property is a designated private nature reserve, Porcupine Hills is also a working olive farm and we pressed our first oil in the fall of 2004. The guest cottages are situated throughout the property and are each entirely private and unique. We work hard to insure that the reserve, the farm and the guest facilities comingle peacefully and productively. There are two rivers running through the property, the Botriver and the Kloof River. In addition to the colonial style main residence, there are five cottages on the property.

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Murray Weiner purchased Porcupine Hills (then Diepklowe Nature Reserve) in early 2000. Inspired by Fiona’s sister in Tuscany and under the advice of local agricultural experts who assured them that olive groves were easy to maintain and wouldn’t require pesticides, four varieties were planted. Other farming forays included sutherlandia, pelegonum, and artichokes, but nothing grew as dynamically as the olive trees. Without much farming experience, no one was more surprised than the owners when the Overberg oil was even richer than its Tuscan cousin. Murray had been working in the Okavango Delta for many years managing safari lodges and training guides. He is a pro-active conservationist and is involved with Cape Nature in their stewardship program. He is Chairman of the Groenlandberg Conservancy which stretches from the Grabouw/Elgin Valley to Botrivier and across to the Hottentots Holland Reserve. Although his first love is the bush, Murray is also a trained chef and opened a restaurant on the farm in November of 2005. Quite small initially, and generally to serve the guest houses, Murray’s reputation as an innovative and exciting restaurateur has spread and the restaurant has been opened to the public and expanded to seat 50. Porcupine Hills has proven itself an appealing venue for weddings and special functions as well. Fiona hails from San Francisco and met Murray while on safari in Botswana with her mother in 1999. She had previously worked in the film industry for directors Francis Ford Coppola in San Francisco and David Lynch in Los Angeles. She moved to New York in 1994 to work for a film studio’s public relations department, but was quickly lured into a boutique PR agency working for some of the country’s most celebrated chefs. It was here that she was able to really hone her own cooking skills and develop a very distinctive Califonian style. She also put in a stint at Conde Nast Publications and VOGUE Magazine. After years in the whirlwind of New York City, Fiona settled into the Hamptons, where she was living when she went on safari. Fiona and Murray married on a beach in Anguilla, British West Indies, in December 1999. They have a daughter Olivia (born 2001) and a son Jack (born 2003). The family also includes a little red dog named Rory, and even littler dog named Pancho, AFila Brasiliero,Balthazar and a new Edition ,Leo , A Basset Hound. The farm’s menagerie consists of a chicken coop, and a constant rotation of animals being rehabilitated.