Why Not Buy Your Own Olive Tree?

Mature Olive Trees Available from Villaggio Verde

www.villaggioverde.co.uk

If you are reading this, the chances are that you love olive trees and the feeling of security and well being that they evoke.  But did you know that olives grow well in countries like England with cold winters (surprisingly an older tree can cope when temperatures go down as low as -12°C). Why not buy a fabulous hundred year old olive tree with its knarled and twisted trunk and underplant with lavender or rosemary to create your own very special place to sit out and dream this summer.

Now the Swallows Can Fly Through!



There is a  traditional saying that I love which says you should prune your olive trees so that 'the swallows can fly through', meaning that the ideal tree shape is one with an open centre allowing air and sunshine to penetrate right into the heart of the tree. This promotes vigour and prevents disease. Olive pruning normally takes place at the end of the harvest and the cut wood makes an excellent contribution to the log store!

How Many Olives Are Needed to Make Olive Oil?

There are a huge number of olive varieties and these vary in their oil content.  The amount of oil that an olive produces is also influenced by the growing and climatic conditions and of course the milling process.

Generally it will take somewhere between 4 and 8 kg of olives to make a litre of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and that will involve picking over 1000 olives.

hand picked olives waiting to go and be milled

Olive Varieties - the Cornicabra

Did you know that Spain has more than 250 varieties of olive in cultivation?  Many of these have wonderfully evocative names like the 'cornicabra' which means 'goat's horn' and gets its name from the shape of the fruit (plus I have to say some imagination!)  The oil itself is fruity and golden yellow with a smooth and velvety texture.



The Cornicabra

  Picture credit: http://www.asoliva.es/