|
California
Olive Oil
News© |
||||||||||||||
|
Volume 8 Issue 6 |
June 2005 |
|||||||||||||
| The Angel Tree | Events: | |||||||||||||
| Olive Oil of the Americas Competition | Briefs: | |||||||||||||
| Texas Olive Oil Industry | Comments from the Internet: | |||||||||||||
|
The Angel Tree
An interesting book about olive trees and the Mediterranean. As a landscape architect, the author is sent on a search for the world's oldest olive tree by his megamillionaire client who needs a trophy for his home in Provence. The author finds intrigue, history and nearly crushes the spirit of an entire village in Southern Spain when he tries to abscond with their ancient "Angel tree". The tree is the soul and protector of the village, purporting to even cure depression with raindrops collected from its leaves. Olive trees may life forever but their productivity drops off when they become true Methuselahs. Old trees outside Seville and Tyre were once bulldozed or dynamited and burnt for firewood to make way for new blood. These days these venerable trees are exported around the world to grace faux Tuscan villas in Silicon Valley or chateaus in the South of France. Author Alex Dingwall-Main soon finds that there is no sure way to date an olive tree as it can rebound from roots after being burnt to the ground. Size is a poor indicator and the dense wood resists ring dating. How to determine if the monster tree he sees in Greece is truly thousands of years old or just a 500 year old youngster blessed with good growing conditions? Dingwall-Main's writing style is at times light and self deprecating while at other times he seems to boast of his association with the wealthy glitterati who are his clients. He includes may thoughtful facts about olive culture and history. Looking for a three thousand old tree requires finding one planted a thousand years before the Greeks and Romans spread olive trees around the Mediterranean.
click for more old tree pictures Just when the author begins to question the morality of his quest, the wealthy client has an attack of conscious and they craft a clever compromise. It lets the "Angel Tree" stay where it is but still provides the millionaire with the world's oldest tree. It is difficult to find a tree here in California over a few hundred years, just youngsters by the measure of this story, but good specimens are sought after. Old trees with massive trunks are not unknown in the central valley. Nothing lends an aura of patrician stability better than a hoary olive tree beside your terra cotta tiled Mediterranean style mansion. There are several tree movers in the state specializing in olive trees. Often the size of trees moved is limited by height and width restrictions during transportation. Trees are pruned severely to fit on trucks and under power lines. They can take years to recover their height and foliage. There is no shortage of average mature trees as olive growers bulldoze orchards as imports kill off the domestic canned black olive market. Olive varieties good for canning are typically not profitable for olive oil. When you buy a mature tree you are really paying for transportation, planting and sometimes a guarantee of viability.
For
more information about "The Angel Tree" Texas Olive Oil Industry Update Olive trees in Texas are still considered an
experiment by some. In the north the trees are pestered by deer,
frost, gophers and insects. In the south across from the Mexican
border trees seem to grow spectacularly, preferring vegetative
growth over olive production. There are a few small mills but still
not enough olives to keep them busy. There is no shortage of sun and
heat of course. Water is usually via wells. This May we
visited several of the more established growers to see how they are
doing.
Jim Henry of Texas Olive Company in Carizzo has 40,000 Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki high-yield dwarf clones. 8 foot fences keep out hogs, deer and rabbits. He is pumping up to 450 gallons of water per minute from the Carizzo aquifer - which adds up to one million gallons of water per week.
In Dilley near the Mexican border, David Anderson demonstrated his 1 acre of 8 yr old Tuscan trees which are now huge and yielding oil. He has a new 10 acre planting of high density Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki. The tour was interrupted by border patrol units chasing several illegal aliens through the orchard. Being this close to the border has its disadvantages. David has a small centrifugal mill made in Italy.
Sandy Oaks owner Saundra Winokur originally planted Mission, Manzanillo, Picual, and Frantoio varieties in 1998 in the eponymous soil on her ranch 20 miles south of San Antonio. Sandy now has over 10,000 trees after planting high yield Spanish clones also. She has planted trees from California, Spain and Egypt. She is the Texas sales agent for NursTech, a branch of the multinational Agromillora founded in 1986, the world’s largest supplier of “in vitro” propagated rootstocks and olive plants. She is experimenting with some more unusual Middle
Eastern varieties, olive oil soap, olive oil body care products,
etc. She's betting a full line of olive oil products will
increase the bottom line. Her sandy soil has been a problem as
it holds few natural nutrients.
Olive oil pioneer Jack Dougherty at First Texas Olive Oil was able to give us a quick tour of his ranch in the hill country of Texas. He was a bit stressed, his Bella Vista Ranch also sports U-Pick blackberry and raspberry fields which were in full fruit, artichoke and asparagus fields, a winery and a working cattle ranch. Oh, and he was attending his son's wedding that afternoon too. He has a small centrifugal mill which he has used for his crop and several other nearby growers and gives tours of the operation with advance notice.
His ranch north of the others in the Texas hill
country has had to contend with severe weather. On February
28th of 2002 when Jack's trees
were still tender, the temperature dropped in one hour from 68
degrees, 70% humidity to below 25 degrees, 20% humidity, damaging
all the trees. He now has about
1000 trees of various varieties and sells Mission trees to others.
The Mission trees seem to be the most resistant to intense frost
pressure. Click for a complete listing of Texas growers Olive Oil of the America's Competition This year's Los Angeles County fair olive oil
competition attracted a record number of entries as well as a star
studded panel of judges. Best Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the domestic
category went to
Saltonstall Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil, a mix of Tuscan
varietals: Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, Maurino, Moraiolo. Best
flavored olive oil was won by The Olive Press for their Clementine
oil. Figueroa Farms in Santa Ynez came up with 3 golds and 2 Silver medals under their company name. Every one of the oils they pressed for others with their Genius System, that was submitted to the fair, won a medal. La Conda Ranch in Corning, a relative newcomer in the olive oil business, won 2 golds and three silver awards for their Italian varietal oils. Bob Crohare's Olivina Ranch in Livermore won big with 4 medals; 2 golds and 2 silvers. Two other Livermore ranches garnered awards; Sera Festino with a gold for Manzanillo and Olivas di Morgan won silver for Mission. Round Pond's Napa trees and Pieralisi Stone mill produced two golds and a silver for their Tuscan blend, orange and lemon olive oils respectively. Stella Cadente Olive Oil also did well with citrus flavors with awards and an award for their mission blend. Paso Robles company Willow Creek Ranch did well with their flavored oils with 4 winners There were international entries from the usual olive producing regions of the world as well as Peru, Slovenia and even Japan. Click for a complete list of winners. New Pages: Advertising
|
Mail from the Internet: TD Asks: When I search on the internet for trans fats I see a website (mercola.com) which says that coconut oil is much healthier than olive oil because olive oil contains trans fats. Its written by a doctor and he wrote a book. Is this true? Jordan Asks: I have read some articles that state that heating "extra-virgin" olive oil can be harmful. Some of this information comes from www.mercola.com Dr. Deane Answers: Extra virgin olive oil does not contain trans fats and is safe for cooking. Most natural plant oils, including Canola Safflower Sunflower Corn Olive Soybean Peanut Rice Bran Palm and Coconut oil, do not contain trans fats. When these same oils are hydrogenated to make a more shelf stable fat for prepared foods, then trans fats are created. Olive oil is never hydrogenated into trans fats; mainly because its bulk price is many times more expensive than coconut or seed oils. The vast majority of dieticians, doctors and public health researchers agree that you should aggressively avoid trans and saturated fats (including coconut oil). People have been cooking with olive oil for 4000 years with no evidence of ill effects. Why would a website make this claim? Well they are trying to sell something and it looks like they are trying to do it by being deliberately misleading. I advise people to view internet information with skepticism. It only costs about $10 a month to set up a website where any kind of claim can be made with impunity. Consider that there are websites that claim that Elvis was abducted by aliens. I would advise readers on the internet to be skeptical and take the consensus of the experts, not self-serving information to sell a product. The USDA and National Institutes of Health sites have trustworthy information. If you eschew government sites, then look for sites which have passed the review of the independent Health on the net foundation (such as this site). The Quackwatch website has examples of websites with truly ridiculous information. Do some research. If a site says something that seems to be at odds with the consensus of the experts, examine with care. Andrew Writes: I see that you recommend Pomace Olive Oil for soap making, would you also recommend it as a base for massage oil? Is it cloudy or anything or does it resemble other olive oil? Dr. Deane responds: Pomace oil is refined so it has less color, odor and particulates than extra virgin olive oil. It is an edible food product with low acidity and would be fine for massage. Niki Asks: I was interested in your article on Sal Genito's at UC Davis. How does he decides what are “optimum picking times” for the olives. Is it before the olives are fully ripe, when their fragrance is at its best? Olive Oil News: See Olives- when to pick. Sal may want to pick before ripe to avoid the mess of some of the olives dropping. Shorty Asks: Is olive oil safe to use if the bottle is about 2-3 years old and the cap is unopened. Olive Oil News: We have some information on this topic at: Olive Oil Storage Vicki Asks: A lot of homeowners don't want the olive fruit. Has anybody heard anything about the efficacy of using just high pressure water to knock the olive flowers off the tree to prevent fruit formation? Olive Oil News: This is a pretty common practice here in the city and suburbs for olive tree owners who want a cheap way to discourage a crop. I don't know of any references but there are plenty of anecdotes about this method. If we have heavy wind and rain during bloom, the olive crop is jeopardized. See Olive Tree Thinning Events ----- 2005 ----- June McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tour Saturday June 4, June 18 tel 707-778-2307 Olive 2005 June 4,5 Munich. a major public show focusing on the topic of olive oil. Organized by Der Feinschmecker - Germany's leading gourmet magazine. For more information: contact Kersten Wetenkamp Kersten.wetenkamp@der-Feinschmecker.de Los Olivos Jazz and Olive Festival Saturday, June 4th, 2005, a showcase for jazz and olive producers in the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara county of California. The festival, to be held in the center of Los Olivos, will be both a unique community event and a fundraising opportunity for the Rotary Club of Los Olivos. The festival will run from 1:00-4:30 pm and will be followed by a Jazz Concert featuring the Plaz Johnson Band at 5:00pm at St. Marks Church. Festival Tickets are $25 and Concert Tickets $35 and are available by calling 805-686-5830 for more info contact Jim Lohnas at lohnas@juno.com July McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tour Saturday July 16, 30 tel 707-778-2307 August McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tour Saturday August 13,27 tel 707-778-2307 September McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tour Saturday Sept 17 tel 707-778-2307 15th IFOAM World Congress 20-23rd September 2005 Adelaide 26th World Congress and Exhibition of the
International Society for Fat Research - ISF October Mission San Jose Chamber of Commerce 5th Annual Olive Festival Saturday, October 1, 2005 43600 Mission Blvd., Fremont CA contact voice mail 510-873-7701 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. McEvoy Ranch Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tour Saturday October 1 tel 707-778-2307 8th Annual Cañada College Arts & Olive Festival Sunday, October 2nd 2005 for information call: Julie Mooney olivefest@smccd.net, 650-306-3428 or go to www.olivefest.org November Eurolipids International Trade Fair for Fats & Oils and related Technologies, 2-4 November 2005, Frankfurt, Germany: Companies, producers and suppliers of: Vegetable and Animal Oils and Fats, Processing Machinery – technology and techniques, Fat and Oil Derivatives for the Food industry, Feedstuff industry, Oleo Chemistry Olive Oil Class at Cakebread Cellars November 5. Help harvest the 2005 crop. Marvin Martin, olive oil expert and consultant will provide the tools to harvest. Our resident Chefs will then teach you how to brine and cure as well as cook with olive oil.
Subscribe:
Copyright © June 19, 2007 The Olive Oil Source. All rights reserved.
|
|||||||||||||
