It was way back in the 1960s. My friend Rob who had never even ventured out of Leicester let alone been abroad found himself in Greece and was wandering through an olive grove. He had very vaguely heard of olives though had certainly never eaten one but, with a first time for everything, gave it a go. Absolutely disgusting! He had picked up rabbit cack.
Hi Jack, I live in balmy Cornwall. Our climate is suitable for olives especially with the climate changes going on. My tree was bought in Morrisons as a diddy rooted cutting 20 odd years ago. It has lived in a pot outdoors ever since. It is still very small for an olive tree, only about 4ft tall and badly neglected by me at times but it still survives. It must be pollinated by wind and insects as there are no other olive trees around here and it still sets fruit. I just trim off any dead twigs each year and not much more, give it an occasional feed when I think about it. My fruit stay on the tree until Christmas as well, pea sized so not worth buying an olive press yet! There are some lovely specimens growing in huge containers in one of the biomes at the Eden Project. When I asked what they did with the olives I was told they didn't fruit because the biomes cut out the UV rays of the sun, or something like that. I am sure someone more knowledgeable will jump on me to correct this nugget of info. if I have got it wrong. We may be able to help the olive industry by supplying them with replacement trees in the future as the olive trees are dying from a nontreatable disease at the moment.
Kalamera @amancalledgeorge ! Scoring black olives, done I have too!! Then into a crock full of salt. In the north of Greece.
I do mine green. Here is a recipe @Jack1974 - it's a lengthy process but, they are your own olives after all. You have to steep the olives for 24 hours in a washing soda solution to get rid of the bitterness. (Not scored as the solution mustn't get to the stone - I check one by slicing with a knife as the solution darkens them a little.) Then they have to be rinsed and rinsed over a period of 3-5 days in running water until clear. - no soapy residue. Then brined to preserve. After than you can take them out of the brine and add anything you wish. Garlic, fennel seed, few herbs and roll in olive oil to eat with a glass of wine before dinner. You will find many recipes on internet.
We have tried a method which is to soak in clear water - changing the water every few hours for a number of days to get rid of the bitterness. Didn't work.
I do about 10kg every year but mine are kept in a crock with a lid in a decent brine in the garage. I take out scoopfuls of what I need. They do get a light scum on top, which doesn't affect the olive. Good with pastis!! - or Ouzo!
Go Jack!
WOW !@tui34 I am so impressed with 10kg each year! And thank you for the tip about garlic and fennel seeds, how yummy !!!! I will have to send updates to this thread.
Hi Jack, I live in balmy Cornwall. Our climate is suitable for olives especially with the climate changes going on. My tree was bought in Morrisons as a diddy rooted cutting 20 odd years ago. It has lived in a pot outdoors ever since. It is still very small for an olive tree, only about 4ft tall and badly neglected by me at times but it still survives. It must be pollinated by wind and insects as there are no other olive trees around here and it still sets fruit. I just trim off any dead twigs each year and not much more, give it an occasional feed when I think about it. My fruit stay on the tree until Christmas as well, pea sized so not worth buying an olive press yet! There are some lovely specimens growing in huge containers in one of the biomes at the Eden Project. When I asked what they did with the olives I was told they didn't fruit because the biomes cut out the UV rays of the sun, or something like that. I am sure someone more knowledgeable will jump on me to correct this nugget of info. if I have got it wrong. We may be able to help the olive industry by supplying them with replacement trees in the future as the olive trees are dying from a nontreatable disease at the moment.
Hi Joyce, it has been very inspiring reading these posts. And I had no idea about the incurable disease. And I love the fact that there is going to be fruit on my tree until Christmas! Thank you.
Posts
I live in balmy Cornwall. Our climate is suitable for olives especially with the climate changes going on. My tree was bought in Morrisons as a diddy rooted cutting 20 odd years ago. It has lived in a pot outdoors ever since. It is still very small for an olive tree, only about 4ft tall and badly neglected by me at times but it still survives. It must be pollinated by wind and insects as there are no other olive trees around here and it still sets fruit.
I just trim off any dead twigs each year and not much more, give it an occasional feed when I think about it. My fruit stay on the tree until Christmas as well, pea sized so not worth buying an olive press yet!
There are some lovely specimens growing in huge containers in one of the biomes at the Eden Project. When I asked what they did with the olives I was told they didn't fruit because the biomes cut out the UV rays of the sun, or something like that. I am sure someone more knowledgeable will jump on me to correct this nugget of info. if I have got it wrong.
We may be able to help the olive industry by supplying them with replacement trees in the future as the olive trees are dying from a nontreatable disease at the moment.