California Grown Olives and Olive Oil

Olives

The olive tree is revered as one of the longest living and hardiest trees on earth. A slow growing tree, it can bear fruit for hundreds of years. Eventually, the trunk will wither and shoots develop at its base, growing into a new tree; hence its reputation as the immortal tree. Olives grow best in climates that are mild in the winter and hot in the summer, much like the warm inland valleys of California.

The olives mature all summer, and are harvested in the fall mainly by manual picking. Harvesting machines have been utilized to pick the fruit, but trees are usually harmed in this process. The crop for the next year begins soon after harvest of the current year. Microscopic flower buds begin forming by November.

Olives straight from the tree are too bitter to eat without some kind of curing. 

Making the Sicilian green or Greek black style olives

The olives are treated with a brine solution and most nutritional value of the olive remains intact.  The olives then ferment  for a few months.  The fermented olives are sized, graded and packed into glass jars.  They can be pitted and stuffed with a variety of flavors, or they can remain whole  packed in brine with herbs, oils and other pickled items such as garlic and peppers.  The large black olives made using brine are known as Greek style olives.

Both versions, especially if made from California olives, are delicious on their own or in your martini with a little of the brine included!