Olives101.com

By PJ Bremier, “I’ve got 38 of the most wonderful olive trees and they produce tremendously,” Jim Simon says gleefully as he looks forward to his annual olive-pressing party in November. That’s when Simon, owner of the Building Supply Center in Point Reyes Station, and his wife, Linda, spread out a festive Tuscan feast and […]

Hand-picking can cost growers more than half of their gross returns By Hank Shaw, A clutch of olive growers stood around a machine that looked like a mobile, padded skateboard ramp attached to a conveyor and armed with a massive pair of grippers. The machine’s grippers grabbed the trunk of an olive tree and began […]

By Alastair Bland, At Bernardo Winery, one of the oldest olive oil producers in California, oil flow has come to a standstill. While the Rancho Bernardo company has historically produced 300 to 400 gallons of olive oil per year from its 1200 trees, the olive fruit fly, an invasive pest that’s native to Mediterranean Europe […]

By Mohammed Zaatari, With the start of the autumn olive-picking season in Lebanon, farmers in the South flocked to their olive groves Monday in order to gather the fruit and ensure provisions for the upcoming year. In the village of Tanbourit near Sidon, Umm Abdo Sawma expressed satisfaction over this year’s crop. “We have a […]

By Greg Stiles, Photo Bob Pennell, Will olives be the successor to pears and grapes? One Rogue Valley farm has decided to test the market. What appears to be a massive new vineyard between Bellinger Lane and old Jacksonville Highway isn’t really a vineyard at all. The 140-acre apron, once part of the Clancy Orchard […]