Our Olive Harvest

Being in a more Mediterranean climate, we enjoy a variety of trees in our yard such as palm trees, date trees, an olive tree, and a tree with fruit that looks somewhat like a small tangerine. The dates have started to fall off on the patio even though they aren't ripe enough to harvest for another couple of weeks. The green olives in the corner of the yard look really pretty, but they sure don't taste good and so we haven't done anything with them. A maintenance guy named Isaac, who came over to fix our sink, commented on the olives and told us that he could come back the next day to show us how to pick and preserve them. From what I understood, he had owned olive trees before, and he still cans large containers of olives every year. We gathered the jars that we needed and waited for him to come the next morning.

The next morning, he came back with another maintenance guy and after they finished their repairs, we set up the ladders and went to work. Everyone, including Nathan with a little height-help and direction, picked every green olive within reach and collected them into glass jars. Even with the ladder, we couldn't reach the tallest branches that were just covered with clumps of olives, but what we could reach filled three big glass jars and two little ones. Isaac told us to soak them in water for a week, changing the water every day. After a week, repack the olives layering them with salt, lemon, peppers, and a glove of garlic. After a month of soaking, they should be ready to eat. Even though I don't like green olives, it will be fun to taste our first batch of home picked and canned olives!