Journal April 26. 2014 - Tosca

Poking around the web on Wednesday I visited eBay and out of curiosity I searched olive trees;  not that I needed another, but just to see if anything different was available.

There were only a very limited number of trees being offered,  and one was a varietal I had never heard of: Tosca.

The varietal was described as being self fertile and both a table and oil olive, which fit all of my criteria.   The price was also within my budget at sixteen dollars and change, so, I bought it.

Before I bought the tree I searched the web for more information and found almost none.  Visiting the sites of all of the major olive nurseries I did not find any who grew, or sold, this variety.   That really piqued my interest, and at that point I could not resist purchasing the tree.

After further research I found that Tosca originates in the Tuscany region of Italy; the variety is very resistant to cold and is used to make an excellent oil.

Another surprise was that the tree came from one state away, Connecticut.  I must not be the only crazy person in zone 5 who grows olive trees.