Comments on: Ask the Olive Farmer

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:00:18 +0000

Do you ship wine to North Carolina?

By: jody

jody — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:53:14 +0000

can i purhcase by the case?

By: Angelina

Angelina — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 02:05:52 +0000

Recently purchased a new home that happens to have 35 Tuscan olive trees. I have no idea what to do with them? Can I sell them?

By: Douglas Webb

Douglas Webb — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:19:09 +0000

Hi Stephanie, I would suggest that you and your two sons give me a call and make an appointment for our free olive ranch tour. That way I can show you as well as tell you everything you need to know and you could taste our olive oil at the end of the tour. Call me on 707 586-3777 and we will find a mutually convenient time for a tour. thanks, Doug

By: Stephanie Proctor

Stephanie Proctor — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:07:33 +0000

I own two acres of undeveloped land, with plenty of water, on the west side of Petaluma. I am interested in planting olive trees for organic olive oil. I need, in the area resources, book references, or people in the small farm business that can help me get started. I have little experience in farming, but have the will, the desire, and two strong teen age sons to make this project a go. thank you for any help you can give. Stephanie Proctor

By: Douglas Webb

Douglas Webb — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 18:28:56 +0000

Hi Lisa, Your backyard tree will probably not produce enough olives to have them pressed for olive oil but they can be processed for table olives. Go online to find recipes for taking the bitterness out of the olives. We have four Spanish manzanillo trees and every year I process about 35 quarts using a water and brine method that takes 7 to 8 months to get rid of the bitterness. Other methods using lye are much faster. The olive fruit fly is the pest you refer to. I use McPhail traps with torula yeast as a bait to help keep the damage down and you can get these traps from Great Lakes IPM. Also, there is an organic bait spray called GF120 that uses Spinosad as the primary ingredient that helps control the OFF. When the traps tell me I have the OFF I spray GF120 in a small spot of olive leaves and the OFF eats it and dies. You can get GF120 from stores that sell agricultural chemicals. We give free olive ranch tours and you should come up and take one and we can talk more about olives. Thanks, Doug

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:56:22 +0000

Hello,
My husband is a Sonoma County native, now living in Redwood City. I know that he would like to do something with the beautiful olives that grow on our back-yard tree, and I would like to help him get started. I’m aware that non-commercial trees often have a bug or parasite that affects the fruit, unless they are properly treated. Can you advise me on how we could learn about this and other basic olive tending techniques. I saw your reference to a book above and will follow up on that. Also, any suggestions for an appropriate gift for a new olive farmer? The home presses I saw for $2300 are way out of my league!
Thank you for offering this interactive feature on your website.
Lisa

By: Douglas Webb

Douglas Webb — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:32:43 +0000

Hi Thomas, Olive trees love sun so a South facing field is great. I recommend you know what you are getting into before you start. Get a new book called Olive Production Manual put out by UCCE. You can get it on their website or at their local office on Aviation Blvd. off of Airport Rd. Let me know if you have specific questions. We offer a free tour of our Olive Ranch that you might want to try. That way I could answer many of your questions. Thanks, Doug

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:53:49 +0000

I am fascinated by your story and wood love to do something similar – at least in terms of growing olives. I have about 1 acre of spare sloped land facing south by mark west springs road. Do you know if that area is ok for olives? Any pointers for a complete newbie?

Thanks!
Thomas

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:08:11 +0000

Hi David, Thanks for your comments. As to your question we have figured out that the Italian olives for oil in this area are ready for picking between late October and late November. We look for the Frantoio variety to be just starting to turn from green to black. Each of our other 7 varieties are somewhere between totally green (Coratina) to totally black (Leccino). This combination seems to make the best tasting oil. Thanks for your question. Doug