the olive blog

Global Warming and Olive Production

Concern is being expressed in Turkey about the potential damage of global warming to that country's production. The article in the Turkish Daily News is here. Meanwhile the hot weather, in the Mediterranean, is producing manna for some Sicilian farmers normally reliant on olive oil. More here from ABC.

Mifrat Olive Harvesting

The Lebanese Daily Star has an article on the use of mifrat harvesting tools. The mifrat, invented in Italy, consists of a long pole with multiple pincers and a collection cylinder. The pincers sever the olives from tree branches and the cylinder catches them as they fall. Users can harvest up to 80 kilograms of olives a day using the device, a significant increase over what can be done by hand.

Codex

The 20th session of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils an international meeting that establishes guidelines on fats and oils takes place 19-23 February 2006.

The meeting will discuss standards relating to products such as olive oil,information for consumers, and storage and transport of edible fats and oils.  More here.

Torquay Olives

The BBC is reporting that a Devon Hotel is growing bananas and olives. The hotel is the Carey Court a plantation style house in the area, built over a century ago. This follows news earlier this year of England's first commercial olive grove.  Torquay's most famous television hotelier was, of course, this man.

Maryam in Marakech

Maryam in Marrakesh posted the following to the olive blog:

Hello there! I have just bought an olive grove in Marrakech and would be very interested in learning more about how to take care of my trees. I should have a harvest but I don't and am a little worried. The trees are very bushy. Any advice you can provide would be most appreciated.

There could be any number of reasons for a lack of fruit. First off do you know the variety of the trees as some only bear fruit every second year? If not take a cutting to a local producer and see if they can identify the type of tree and ask their advice about local growing conditions (has there been unseasonal conditions this year etc).  If you can identify the variety you might also ask about the need for pollination, pruning etc.  If you learn more and post specific questions perhaps other readers can assist.

Poor Californian Season

The LA Times reports that 2006 will be the smallest California table olive crop in at least 25 years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that this year's olive harvest, which began last week, will reach just 50,000 tons — the lowest since 1981 and only 35% of what was picked last year.

Stone Ground or Cold Pressed

Sometime back in a post on a report on the benefits of Salvestrols the olive blog asked why stone ground pressing was considered significant. Salvestrols tend to lurk in the bitter flavours, and much food processing removes this bitterness to make 'unsweetened' products. The British Naturopathic Journal stated that Salvestrols tend to be found more in the skins, pulp and stones of fruit rather than in the pure juice, so when juices are clarified much of their salvestrol content is lost.  The UK Daily Mail story said that stone ground, unfiltered olive oil (which is cloudy) will also do more good than the clear variety. One reason for raising the question was to see whether it was the stone grinding or the unfiltered element that was key. One commentator on the post has written to the olive blog say the following:

The traditional stone ground method of producing olive oil grinds up the whole olive, including the skin, which is where most Salvestrols are to be found. The cold pressed method squeezes the oil out of the olives using huge rollers that compress the fruit. The skins are part of the waste that is thrown away.

English Olive Grove

The UK Independent carries an article today on what they say is England's first olive grove. Mark Diacono has planted a grove of 120 olive trees on the banks of the river Otter near Honiton.  Meanwhile DirtyDingus dropped by with thanks for the post on his excellent Flickr photos. He added that he blogs olive trees on most weeks on the Friday.

Feral Olive Trees

Concerns expressed in Australia for a potential spread of feral olive trees following the burgeoning growth in new grove plantings. The article in The Melbourne Age cites the example of the spread of trees in the Adelaide Hills and Parklands during the mid 1800s. On the other hand anyone who has started a grove knows what a battle it is to get young trees to take root and the trees are a favourite of many native animals and insects. The solution proposed, though no problem has been proven, is to place nets over all trees to stop birds spreading seeds.  If only propagation of olive trees was that easy.

Fresh Olive Oil

A good article on the joys of delicious pressed olive oil can be found here. And the Tuscan olive oil described matches the olive blog's experience. The author, Patricia Talorico, then goes onto describe it use in a mouthwatering passage:

"The fresh, sprightly oil was used as a condiment throughout the meal. We drizzled it atop steaming bowls of ribollita, the Tuscan white bean soup, and rounds of schiacciata con olio, a savory, flat Florentine bread. The oil also was a topping for thinly sliced roasted rosemary pork, sprinkled onto roasted red onions and butternut squash, dressed -- along with Barolo wine -- on a chicory salad and poured on top a bowl of soft, creamy zolfini beans."

Meanwhile another article on the price of olive oil and the possible differing impacts of Spain's drought and increasingly health conscious users. The price of good fresh local oil is low enough in most countries that you would think even price rises would not deter an increase in use.