On Growing Olive Trees – Part Two
May 25, 2011
Hello again,
friends of
Enota!
Today we will continue our discussion on growing olive trees. We will also look at the use of all the parts of the olive tree and some of the history of the olive tree. We hope you will find it informative and entertaining…
Some History on Olive Trees:
Olive trees, the fruit, and the oil, all have special meaning in the Bible. The olive tree is one of the symbols for Israel and/or her people. Olive oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. The fruit is good deeds… One either bears fruit or does not… Olive oil was (and still is) used for anointing as well as for burning in Jewish and Christian ceremonies.
Very fine olive wood is often selected to be used for the spindles upon which a Kosher Torah scroll is wound.
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Every part of the olive tree is used. The wood, the leaves, and the fruit – which is classified as a drupe. The simple way to think of a drupe is that it is a “stone fruit,” meaning it has a hard pit in the middle of a fleshy, edible fruit. The stone contains the actual seed inside of that inner hard shell. Peaches and cherries are other examples of drupes. The various cultivars of olives can be described as having flavors and aromas anywhere from fragrant and fruity to buttery and meat-like. How’s that for a range of tastes?
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The olive tree an evergreen but it is nothing like a conifer or a holly. Unless you allow the tree to become greatly stressed , it’s leaves don’t turn brown and drop off. Olive trees don’t mind frost. Damage does not occur to the tender parts of the tree, such as new branch and twig growth, unless the temperature gets below 22° F and it takes several hours below 15° to do serious damage to the thicker parts of the tree. This is why it’s a good idea to keep an olive tree in a nice pot and be prepared to move it inside if you live where it gets consistently colder than those temperatures, as we do here in the North Georgia Mountains.
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An olive tree can produce a fairly decent amount of fruit in a five to eight gallon sized pot. Fruit production will depend on the species and cultivar, weather conditions and the level of care given the tree.
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Olive trees hate to have their “feet wet.” Not only do olive trees produce better and tastier olives in drier conditions, they are very susceptible to fungal disease if they are planted in very rich soil that stays moist all the time. The conditions that are great for most vegetables and other plants are totally wrong for olives. They prefer rocky, sandy, almost consistently dry earth to grow well in and produce the richest tasting olives. When the trees are just getting started they need some care and better conditions, but the older they get, and the more trials they endure, the tougher they get. ( Is there a lesson there, or what?)
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The olive leaves are now harvested because it has been discovered that they have anti-aging, immune system stimulating, and anti-biotic effects. Of course, it has been known since the Garden of Eden that olive oil is an anti-biotic and has many healing qualities. But actual clinical research has now shown that olive leaf extracts are proven to reduce blood pressure, fight fungal infections, and reduce inflammation. A fresh extract of the leaves was recently shown to have more than double the antioxidant qualities than that of green tea extract. On top of that, it had 400% of the vitamin C content.
Among natural medicine practioners, olive leaf is used to fight all kinds of viral infections, including colds and flu, yeast infections, and ailments such as Epstein-Barr, shingles, and herpes. Consumption of both the oil and the leaf extract reduce blood levels of low density lipoproteins or LDL cholesterol.
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Olives are one of the few fruits that are good to eat whether picked green or fully ripe. They can be preserved in pickling brine or in their own oil.
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The process of extracting the oil would take an entire post by itself, and perhaps the day will come when we might want to experiment in learning how to do just that. In ancient times it was done by grinding the olive flesh into paste and then crushing it between mats of palm frond or grass mats, using pits carved out of rock and using small cranes with counterbalances to load stones on top of the mats. The liquid is crushed out of the meat of the fruit and then the watery part separates from the oil. Olives that are grown for their oil have up to half of their weight in oil.
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Perhaps you are wondering about the designation “Extra-Virgin” for olive oil. How can something be “extra-virgin?” Kind of like being “extra-dead.” You either are or you aren’t… Actually, it developed as a grade and has a very specific meaning. Not only is it from the very first pressing of olives, but it has to have a certain subjective grade of aroma and taste, as well as a maximum level of fatty acid content no greater than 0.8 gram per 100 grams. The first pressing of the olive oil was what Father God commanded to be used in lighting the menorah in the Temple, and for use in formulating anointing oil. Many healthcare practitioners today recommend first-cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil as the healthiest kind to consume.
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Retreat to the Mountains 