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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: Biscombe on December 10, 2007, 17:26:21

Title: Olive oil!
Post by: Biscombe on December 10, 2007, 17:26:21
Wey hey!!!!  ;D we've got our annual supply of olive oil!!!! we picked 150 kilos of olives (thought it was 170! our scales were wrong :-\), my beloved went to the mill this morning and we got 25 liters of cold pressed organic olive oil!!  ;D I'm thrilled!
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: tim on December 10, 2007, 17:54:51
ENVY!!
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Froglegs on December 10, 2007, 18:03:19
Quote from: tim on December 10, 2007, 17:54:51
ENVY!!
I'm not, you can have to much of a good thing you know..............OK I'm fibbing. :'(
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: angle shades on December 10, 2007, 18:10:04
 ;D well done you, I'm buying mine from Morrisons tomorrow ::) ;D/ shades x
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: cambourne7 on December 10, 2007, 18:20:34
I picked mine up in france already :)

Congrats, how long with it take you to use that lot up?
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: tim on December 10, 2007, 18:49:30
"Annual"??
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Froglegs on December 10, 2007, 19:00:01
How many Olive trees does it take to get 25 liters?.
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Hyacinth on December 11, 2007, 08:40:00
GREEN WITH ENVY

;D
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Biscombe on December 11, 2007, 11:03:24
We've got about 6 olive trees that were loaded! and 2 ancient (stunners) trees with only a small amount of olives, tonight I will be mostly eating crusty bread and yummy oil with a sprinkle of sea salt!  ;D
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Biscombe on December 11, 2007, 11:05:11
We got more oil than we thought! 31 liters!! worth picking!!  ;D
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Suzanne on December 11, 2007, 12:42:59
How lovely...I bet you have your own lemon trees as well. I am beside myself with olive envy!
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: cambourne7 on December 11, 2007, 13:02:54
Hi Froglegs,

I dont think you would ever have a problem with growing olives in the uk

http://www.seagravenurseries.co.uk/products.asp?d=8

But i think the problem would be pressing the olives into olive oil.

And i would guess that the taste comes form the soil and the quality of the plants.

Cambourne7


Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Hyacinth on December 11, 2007, 13:55:38
From The Guardian, February 2007....

Mark Diacono is an environmental consultant. He knows more than most about the realities of global warming. In fact, at Otter Farm near Honiton, he has been planting olive groves. He had been told to not expect a harvest for 10 years, but in 2006, he says, "We produced a handful of ripe, black olives on only three year-old trees." He hopes to have the first commercial harvest from his 120 trees in five years

so by all means, if you want to "do a Biscombe" in the UK,  buy your trees, relocate to the south, pray that it doesn't rain too much - and have patience ;D
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: cambourne7 on December 11, 2007, 15:24:35
thats me out then i have NO patience :)
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Ceratonia on December 11, 2007, 16:15:58
I planted a load of stones out of a pot of fresh olives three years ago and now have quite a few olive trees at very little cost/effort. They're at least a foot high, but many years away from fruit I suppose.

I've been told that there are farmers in Italy making a decent living by digging up 6ft sized trees from their olive groves and shipping them over to the UK as the price over here is more than they could make from many years of olive oil production.
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Froglegs on December 11, 2007, 17:23:58
Quote from: froglegs on December 10, 2007, 19:00:01
How many Olive trees does it take to get 25 liters?.
I only wanted to know out of instest, :o I'm not intending to go into the Olive oil business........ honest
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Froglegs on December 11, 2007, 17:31:32
P.S.
how much does it cost to have them pressed?
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: cambourne7 on December 11, 2007, 17:45:58
Quote from: froglegs on December 11, 2007, 17:31:32
P.S.
how much does it cost to have them pressed?

Me thinks thou do protest 2 much!
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Biscombe on December 11, 2007, 17:55:24
90 Euros for a minimum run of 500 kilos not bad eh! the oil is yummy! really green and quite cloudy! off for another taste!  ;)
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Froglegs on December 11, 2007, 19:28:09
Quote from: cambourne7 on December 11, 2007, 17:45:58
Quote from: froglegs on December 11, 2007, 17:31:32
P.S.
how much does it cost to have them pressed?

Me thinks thou do protest 2 much!
But Cambourne us Man don't protest we question. ;)
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: silverbirch on December 11, 2007, 20:23:13
Ok, dragging this one sort of back.

I've seen lots of olive trees in nurseries, obviously this year's fashionable plant.

I assume that the olives I but in the supermarket are no good for trying to grow (yes, especially the pitted ones!!), so where do you get fresh olives from?

Also, what's the difference between a green olive and a black one?  Different varieties?  Different ripeness?  I've often wondered that.

Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on December 11, 2007, 21:58:17
Pressing them is decidedly not high-tech; the Romans used to crush the olives, then float off the oil. I suspect it could be done at home with a fruit press and a bucket; has anyone thought of trying?
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: Biscombe on December 11, 2007, 22:43:43
Green olives are unripe and have a more concentrated oil content and intense flavor but I assume despite a higher proportion of oil in green olives there's a higher amount of oil in black olives (ripe) because the spanish harvest black (ripe) olives for oil production.
Title: Re: Olive oil!
Post by: davee52uk on December 12, 2007, 17:55:03
One of these days somebody will grow olives and derive oil in this country - this will be sure proof of Global Warming.