Journal March 27, 2016 - Olive trees setting

The trees are setting fruit, a lot of fruit.  When they began to bud I thought, or hoped, that I might get enough to process a small batch in a Tupperware container.  Now, it appears that they are going produce a lot of fruit, so I began looking for ways to process the olives.

 

 The top photo shows a Spanish variety, Arbequina, the bottom photo shows a French variety, Picholine.  What I find strange is that the plants are in different stages; fruit set on the tops, while the bottom portions are still flowering.  To further complicate things: some plants are just about finished flowering, while others have green buds just beginning to swell.  Add to that, that there are at least ten different varieties, so it looks like the harvest will be spread out for quite sometime.


Making oil is not practical, as the equipment is very expensive, however, I would really prefer to process them for eating anyway.  I think I have found a method that I would like to try that does not look too difficult.  The link below will take you to a video on youtube.
Olive processing.

Last week I removed the straw blanket that was covering the garlic all winter, finding the garlic looking great!  Last season at this time the raised bed was still frozen solid.  After the bed warms up I will mulch with straw to control the weeds and moisture.

All of the bulbs in the bed came from last year's harvest, but the bulbs are all mixed up, so I can't tell which variety is which, except for the Italian purple.