Farmer looks to start olive oil industry in South Oregon
By Ron Brown,
With Southern Oregon establishing it’s reputation for growing grapes, another warm climate crop is starting to take root.
More than 130 acres between Jacksonville and Medford are the beginning of what some hope will be an olive oil industry in the Rogue Valley.
Olive tree Grower Jeff Hoyal has planted more than 86,000 Greek and Spanish olive varieties he believes are well-suited to this area’s weather and soil.
“We have Koriniki, which is a Greek variety, a very peppery oil. We have Arbisona, which is a Spanish variety and is a very sweet oil. And then we have Arbiqina, which is another Spanish variety, which is a very buttery oil. And all three of them are, historically, create the top quality extra virgin oil that, that you’re really looking for,” Olive Tree Grower Jeff Hoyal said.
The Oregon State University extension service in Southern Oregon is also experimenting with 60 trees in a test plot.
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Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 11:11 pm under
I have olive trees in Northern Alabama and are doing very well and handle our fairely cold winters very well. They have sen 0 degree fareinhite temps as well as 5, 8, 10 and abunch of teens fareinhite temps aswell.. They got bruised a little but this spring they bounced back with a vengence.. I am currentley adding to my small orchard…Nice article thanks.
I knew that we could grow olives here in Oregon! Medford will be a good area for it too. This is truly one of the most beautiful trees that there is, not to mention the fruit.
An Olive Lover