Our Olives:
On July 1, 2007 we planted 600
olive trees. Ultra high density planting (10 feet between
rows and 5 foot spacing between plants with a two wire
trellis) was chosen with the intent of growing exclusively
for oil. Half of the trees planted were Arbosana and half
Arbequina. These two varietals from Northern Spain have
shown cold tolerance that we believed would give us the best
chance for regular crops in spite of our borderline cold
temperatures in winter. We were wrong, or at least half
wrong.
The winter of 2007 and 2008 was a fairly
normal, cool, wet, Oregon winter. The trees did well and
were ready for a growth spurt in the summer of 2008. By
early December of 2008 we had lost only 20 trees and most
had grown to between 3 and 5 feet in height. We were hopeful
of a small harvest in 2009. Unfortunately, just before
Christmas, we had over two feet of snow (a 25 year event)
and five days of weather in the teens. Since these trees are
tolerant of cold down to about 15 degrees for a brief
period, the extended cold killed many of them. In the summer
of 2009, we had a very poor bloom and fruit set from the 500
trees that lived through the winter. We replanted about 100
trees. We also planted 25 new larger trees of the Leccino
variety above our vegetable garden since others were having
success in our area with this Tuscan variety. The Arbosana
variety was starting to show that it was less cold tolerant
as the vast majority of the dead trees were Arbosana.
Then, in December of 2009, Mother Nature struck again.
We had three consecutive days of temperatures below 10
degrees at night (about a 50 year event). By the Spring of
2010 we had only about 100 of our original trees living.
Some would say that Mother Nature was trying to tell us
something. We must not be listening because we replanted
again in the summer of 2010.
This time, we experimented
with many new varieties in hopes of finding more |
cold resistant trees. Since the Leccino seemed to bear
the cold fairly well, we added more of that variety and also
Aglandau, Picholene, Pendolino, Picual, Ascolana, and more
Leccino. We have now purchased and planted almost 1100 olive
trees and hope to have about 500 total producing when they
are ready.
We have a neighbor, David Lawrence who has
grown olives for the past half dozen years
(oregonolivetrees.com and he has an olive tree nursery) who
has experimented growing dozens of varieties. His
experiences, expecially with the Tuscan varieties, has been
very good. We hope ours do as well. As of the start of 2011,
it is clear that Arbosana and Ascolana do not like Calamity
Hill. On the other hand, the Picual, Picholene, Leccino and
Arbequina all seem to be thriving. The Aglandau and
Pendolino are on our watch list.
Ken, Penny and Paul
Durant (oregonolivemill.com and Red Ridge Farms and Durant
Vineyards) are among the true pioneer olive growers in the
Willamette Valley. They have installed the first modern
commercial Olive Mill in Oregon. With a mill in the area, we
will be able to produce gourmet olive oils that are fresher
than anything known in the Northwest. In November, the
Durants have an “Olio Nuovo Festival” and serve up the
freshest, best tasting Olive Oil I have ever had. If you
find yourself in the Oregon Wine Country in November, do not
miss this event! In November of 2010, we delivered our first
harvest (19 pounds!!!!) to the Durants to add to their all
Oregon blend.
Eventually, assuming we can find the
right combination of varieties to tolerate our growing
conditions, we hope to harvest from 1 to 2 tons of olives a
year. Assuming the varieties produce at normal rates, we
should expect about 25-35 gallons per ton or 50+ gallons of
olive oil.
As you see from our wines (Garden Shed Red
and Starlight White) we will likely need a name for our
Calamity Hill olive oil. If you have any ideas, let us know. |
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