Olive Tree

The olive tree might resemble a large bush instead of the tree that it actually is. It rarely grows higher than 50 feet (15 meters) and will be formed after its environment. It will thrive on limestone slopes and in a non-acidic soil. Although first of all found in the Mediterranean area, the olive tree has spread to other parts of the world and is now grown commercially where ever it is possible.

The commercial use of the olive, the fruit of the olive tree, is more or less endless when it comes to the kitchen.

The olive is a good and exotic addition to almost any food product and, in the shape of olive oil, much healthier than most other similar products. Many scientists have made research into the area proved it so.

As long that the olive tree is given a fairly well drained soil, you can bet on it to survive almost anything. The olive tree can withstand dry seasons, colder seasons and intensive wind. It will just slowly shape itself after the given parameters and keep on growing. The olive tree can even re-grow after it has been chopped down. This makes it an excellent tree to have in your garden. The olive tree will give your backyard an exotic and typical Mediterranean look to it. But it will most certainly not carry any fruit. Growing olives on an olive tree is a hard work and demand a lot of the weather to succeed.

Getting your olive tree to bear olives will demand a lot of sun, some water and tons of love. The olive tree needs to be pruned, not only to give large nice fruits, but to give any fruit at all. The pruning needs to be done repeatedly because the olive tree recoup fast, even after some serious pruning. You want the olive tree to concentrate on bearing fruit and not only growing larger. Although slowly growing upwards, it can really burst when it comes to twigs and leaves.

When you finally get the olive tree to give fruit, pick the fruit while it is still green but has reached its biggest stage. You can of course wait longer if you prefer the richer and ripe fruits. When harvesting, be sure to remember that the olive tree never bears fruit at the same place twice and that you should remove the twigs that already has given fruit if you want any next year.

The fruit of the olive tree is very vulnerable to mould and bruise easily. Therefore the processing of curing your olives should commence immediately. Curing is a process where the fruit of the olive tree first is soaked in a series of lye solutions for a period of time, then be rinsed in water and finally be stored in a mild saline solution. There are of course other ways of curing your olives, browse the web and find a solution that meets your demand. Or, if you are lazy, buy canned olives at your local store. They are just as good and you can enjoy it immediately, because the olive tree and the fruit of the olive tree are meant to be enjoyed.

Olives on Olive Tree
Original Picture by Nick Fraser

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