Photo : A stand of stately olive trees.
I grew up surrounded by the pine forest of the Rocky Mountains. Very different than the Mediterranean climate of Northern California’s valley floor and foothills of lively oak woodlands
Photo : Green Mission olives.
I first experienced a Mediterranean climate in my late twenties on a trip to Israel visiting a sister who was living and working there. While the entire trip was an amazing sensory experience of sights, sounds, history and learning two memories stand out: waking to the fragrance of citrus orchards in bloom and walking among the ancient olive trees of Gethsemane. At the time, I thought that if there was a heaven and I was allowed in, it would be scented with citrus blooms and offer the quiet, warm stillness of beneath the olive trees.
Photo : Ripening Sevillano olives.
When we moved to Northern California and had a need for some masking landscape trees, I thought – olives (Olea europaea)! They’ll add a sculptural height and a sense of age – AND they’ll bear fruit . So three shapely boxed olives were planted and for several years their reliable fruits turn from shiny green orbs to dark purple ones over the course of the summer and fall. And I do enjoy the trees and the fruit.
Photo : Assorted olives harvested, stems, washed and slit down one side in preparation for the 10 – 14 day water bath. The water bath will leach the bitter oleuropein from the fruits.
But an olive’s strengths – their reliable fruits – can also be their drawbacks – at least in the home garden in Northern California. These fruits are abundant and are loved by the birds as much as they are by me. After just a few years of living here, I came to understand that this Mediterranean climate is not exactly THAT Mediterranean climate. Olives – while thriving here in Northern California – are not native to Northern California and over the course of their history of being grown here, they have become something of a bird-dispersed naturalization issue in our natural habitats. Olive trees were first brought to California by the European missionaries for which Mission Olives are named. The trees were planted at the missions across the up and down the state for both the fruit and the oil they would supply. Olives soon became an important industry in California where the mild Mediterranean climate and soils suit them. Olea is a genus of some 20 species of evergreen trees and shrubs. Olea europaea is the species that produces the fruits traditional used for eating. Olives are best grown in areas of hot dry summers and prefer fairly lean soil and can survive with little water once established. While they are reliably hardy in USDA zones 8 -10, olive trees like a little protection from too much frost – especially anything under around 15 degrees. The best varieties for home gardens according to Brendon Flynn of Pacific Sun Olive Oil in Los Molinas, CA are ‘Ascolana,’ ‘Manzanillo,’ ‘Sevillano,’ and ‘Mission.’ “Olive trees can get very big,” warns Flynn, “so to keep your tree manageable, prune at least twice a year. Prune out suckers along or around the trunk, thin the interior of the tree and prune back the canopy during hot dry weather to avoid disease.”
Photo above: The olives in their fresh water bath, changed daily for 8 – 10 days. We did 12 days. Apparently the longer you keep them in the bath, the less bitter they are, but if you over bathe them, they will become watery and tasteless. Below: The longer-term storage jars being prepared for sterilizing.
If you like the look of an olive tree, plant a non-fruiting variety, like the patented fruitless (and pollen-less) Swan Hill variety. If you like the idea of fruit, or if you already have a fruiting tree, then I encourage you to harvest and do something with your olives each year.
Photo Above: Brine solution being prepared with brining salt dissolving in the water/ red wine vinegar mixture. Below: Embellishments to add to the brine of several of the jars. We chose lemons and garlic.
Have you had the fun of tasting an olive right off the tree? If you have, you will understand when I say it’s one the most grimace-producing bitter experiences you will have ever had. Your immediate reflex will be to spit. So when I say I would encourage you to do something, you really do have to DO SOMETHING, you can’t just pick them and go.
Photo Once the water bathed olives are ready for their finish brine, you top with 1/2 inch or so of olive oil floated on the top of the jars before sealing.
This year I decided to follow the clear and easy instructions from the University of California Cooperative Extension for home curing my olives using a fresh water bath. http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/234-2104.pdf This instruction booklet is a free download and contains a lot of detailed information for different curing methods. After 14 days my daughter and I religiously changing the fresh water in our five quart jars of colorful olives, the fruits are now resting in the cool dark in their finishing brine of salt, water, vinegar and spices. We get to taste them for real right around Halloween. I’ll let you know if they turn out to be tricks or treats.
Photo Olives in their finish brine, with lemon and garlic and olive oil float – ready to be sealed with new rings and lids.
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In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California. It is made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum – Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell – all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In a North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time.
