Olives101.com

By Reed Fujii, LODI – Jeff Colombini is the president of Lodi Farming, a large diversified farming operation. Still, early last week, he found himself on a towering harvester clattering down rows of a 3-year-old olive orchard, gathering fruit destined to yield a greenish-yellow gold in the form of oil. No, he wasn’t short of […]

Article by Julia Moskin, Photo by Sylwia Kapuscinski, Marco Smouha performed the ancient autumnal rite of olive-curing last week here at his son’s home, far from the nearest olive groves, but close to the traditions of his ancestors. Mr. Smouha used 40 pounds of walnut-size fresh green olives from California, where the season is nearing […]

Last year saw very small crop Nearly half of this year’s harvest is picked It’s a tale of “famine to feast” in California olive groves. After an extremely small crop last season, Central Valley olive growers have seen production rebound sharply this fall. The larger overall crop means that individual olives have been smaller in […]

While the rest of the Mediterannean consumes most of the olive oil it produces, olive oil consumption in Turkey is the lowest in the region. Turks consume one kilogram of the oil a year while their neighbors comsume an average of 15. Producers in Ayvalık say it’s time the government inspires Turks to buy and […]

By Elena Becatoros, ARTEMIDA, Greece – The smoldering trunks of olive trees stretch across mountain slopes and valleys, their precious fruit lying like pellets of charcoal on the blackened ground. As far as the eye can see, the groves that produce one of Greece’s best known exports have been devastated. A week of forest fires […]