Olives

Our one olive tree has been planted for a number of years but it is this year that it has produced its first harvest of just 200 olives. Of course I have long lost the variety name but it is obviously one suitable for this area. In fact there are several olive groves in the Central Otago area and even an Olive Growers Association. I wonder what the criteria are for joining??  I do know that there is an olive press in Cromwell where those with larger harvests than ours are able to transform their olives into oil.
Not so many years ago The Southland Herb Society invited Sue and Trevor to come and speak about their small 'hobby' block.  The following pages, taken from the Herb Society newsletter, give you an insight to growing olives for oil in this area.

After some research I have decided to brine my olives. Most of them are green as they seldom ripen here as the season is just not long enough and very unpalatable until processed. Soaking them first, after making a small slash in each olive, helps removes the bitter oleuropein leach out. They can be soaked for up to 40 days before being placed in a finishing brine. I plan to use the recipe from the Get Growing newsletter I receive each week from The NZ Gardener. It will be interesting to taste the finished product.