When Life Gives You Olives…

The latest installment of the Sylverleaf Press is finally available. Head over to the Newsletters section of our website to have a look at the newest newsletter. In it, we have updates for our Sylverleaf Estate and end blend fans, notes regarding the upcoming olive harvest and links to follow Sylverleaf on your favorite social media platform; this blog, Facebook and Twitter. Happy Reading!

These past two years we have been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of wasps; mud daubers, red wasps, rice field wasps, paper wasps, meat bees, hornets, yellow jackets and those freakin’ black paper wasps with the yellow stripes. I’m sure that I’m forgetting one or two other types in my rant…

Recently, as we sat outside, looking at the orchard, enjoying our time, we were constantly harassed by a paper wasp that was building a nest in the siding of our house. Being thoroughly annoyed by this creature as it crashed into me, then into the house, then finally into a gap in the siding, I decided to closely observe the little creature.

The more I watched, the more I realized that wasps are the drunk drivers of the insect world. They bounce off of everything as they make a tortured and twisted “line” to where ever it is that they are going. It’s even worse when they’re building a nest, carrying a hunk of saliva and chewed up wood or mud. That extra gob of stuff really tips their navigation from haphazard to straight-up hazard.

Knowing that we didn’t have the motivation to eliminate the nest just yet, we tried to slow the nest building progress by jamming rosemary branches (it was nearby) into the hole.  That didn’t work. So, we jammed even more rosemary into the hole and it still didn’t work. It slowed them down a little, but they found their merry way through the tangle. Soon enough, the wasps would pop out of the hole, peek around a bit, then inelegantly fly off.

Fortunately, neither of us got stung that day, but I can’t tell you how many hit-and-runs there were…

The first step of our orchard floor preparation is now complete. Over the weekend, your humble Dirt Manager completed the mowing of the orchard. Next up, we have a bit more chipping to do (of the prunings), then discing and planing. In less than 2 weeks, the orchard floor work will be done.

Next up, PRUNING. It never stops…

It’s DONE!

We just finished blending the 2009 release of the Foothills Blend on Thursday the 16th. It tastes amazing and we hope that you’ll enjoy it. In a couple of days, we’ll do our final tasting and then it’s time to put this oil in the bottle. So, if you’re waiting for your order, it’ll be on its merry way to you by the end of this week. I’ll post tasting notes very soon.

Enjoy!

Although this post has very little to do with olive oil, it does concern farmers and food.

As I sat on a plane to Hong Kong, I came across a few articles in the Wall Street Journal that really got me thinking.  One article was the story of a man who is talking his neighbors into planting gardens of vegetables in place of their lawns. I think that the idea is outstanding on a number of levels.  First, these people are getting produce in return for letting go of their lawns.  Second, the amount of water and fertilizer needed for the lawn is greatly reduced. Third (I could go on), it really builds a connection in people with the food that they consume.

But, there is a problem.  Some of the neighbors dislike the idea very strongly and are now suing this urban farmer. They contend that he is reducing their property values by getting people to convert their perfectly trimmed lawns to “ugly” gardens.  Wow. The “bad” neighbors are taking their complaint to the courts, so we’ll see how it turns out.

There are times when one can have hope in the human race and there are times when one simply cannot…

After much gnashing of teeth, our latest issue of the Sylverleaf Press is now available. If you’re a regular customer, you’ll see a copy in the mail or in your e-mail Inbox. If you’re not on the list, what are you waiting for?! You can grab a copy from our website too.

Enjoy!

It’s true.

I can hardly believe it, but Paradise is currently being evacuated… I don’t mean to make light of the situation, but this must be the end of the world.

The tiny town of Paradise, CA was evacuated a few days ago due to raging wild fires. It is a small, hip town, located in the center of olive country. We would like to wish everyone up there the best and hope that losses are minimal. Stay safe.

We have been running non-stop lately. With the warmer weather comes the daily grind of chores in and around the orchard. Everything is growing quickly and profusely and we struggle just to keep up.

The olive bloom is finished for this year. The bloom was very strong with large bunches of flowers on the end of each twig on the tree. I don’t recall any previous flower set that could compare with this year’s. (Well, two years ago, the bloom was very nearly as good, but the weather took that bloom far too quickly.) There are already tiny olives developing on the trees as I write this. Many are about 2mm in diameter and growing quickly.

The weather, especially the harsh wind, has been rather unpredictable this year. The timing for the recent rains and our mini heat wave were right in the middle of the bloom, so we’ll see how the crop set goes. If I had to guess, I’d say that we’re in for another small harvest…

Mother Nature sure is making this difficult.