lots of olives!

[Olive Branch]

Dear chefs and gardeners, I have two Mission olive trees growing in my parking strip. They were not cared for, for many years and have gotten very tall. They are looking better now with a little pruning and a bit of water and they are COVERED with lovely green olives Last year we let the olives fall into the driveway and cleaned them up every day. I was thinking of picking them and curing them this year. Do you have information on this? Thank you!

[Papa]

Dear Branch O1:

You will find the information that you seek at:

http://www.olivetree.cc/PRtreating.htm

Let me know if you need more help.

Best regards,

[nancya]

Papa,

Many people around here have Russian Olive trees which produce tiny little olives. Are these just decorative or can they be cured and eaten?

Nancy

[Olive Branch]

Dear Papa, Thank you so much for the great website - I think we'll be eating olives for Christmas! My name is really Debbie Branch, but I can't figure out how to change it on this site. What a geek, having my email address as my screen name!

Thanks again~

[Zorba the Greek]

Dear Papa

Your site is excellent.

Dear Branch 01, ask Nicko to help you change your name.
I suggest you to use as nick name " Olive Branch"

It reminds me of this lovely song of Leonard Cohen "Dance me to the end of Love"

"...lift me like an olive branch and be my homer dove"

[Papa]

Dear Friends:

Thank you so much for your kind com,ments about my web site.

Dear NancyA:

The Russian-olive or "Elaeagnus angustifolia L." was first cultivated in Germany in 1736, and it was introduced into the U.S. in the late 1800s. It is a small, usually thorny shrub or small tree that can grow to 30 feet in height.

It was planted as an ornamental tree , and until recently, the U.S. Soil Conservation Service recommended Russian- olive for wildlife planting and windbreaks. Russian-olive outcompetes native vegetation, interferes with natural plant succession and nutrient cycling, and water reserves. Because Russian-olive is capable of fixing nitrogen in its roots, it can grow on bare, mineral substrates and can dominate riparian vegetation where overstory cottonwoods have died. Although Russian-olive provides a plentiful source of edible fruits for birds, ecologists have found that bird species richness is actually higher in riparian areas dominated by native vegetation. It is now considered to be a pest tree in many US states although it is still very popular among gardeners (especially in Arizona) for its ornamental beauty.

I have never tasted the fruit of this tree and I have never encountered any reference to its fruit as being edible.

I hope that this is of assistance.

[Olive Branch]

So, Dear Papa, The Olive Tree is YOUR site and the inspiration for your story. How lovely! We picked 20 gallons of olives and have all the family and friends and neighbors busy scoring them and mixing brine. This makes me wonder about the first people to eat olives - it is not at all obvious how to make them edible! Artichokes, lobsters, whoever THOUGHT of eating these things? They must have been VERY hungry and very lucky. Almost as lucky as I have been to find this community...

Thank you~

[Athenaeus]

Do you think that it was luck?

I do not believe in luck only in Fate!

Nice observation though.

[Olive Branch]

Hey! Actually, you and I and Baruch Spinoza don't believe in luck! I really should have said that I am so grateful to have found this site. You know, Spinoza (a Dutch philosopher, and I am of Dutch extraction) made his living grinding lenses for eyeglasses. Maybe my signature should be, "Don't make a spectacle of yourself!"

I guess this is only funny if you know that in English, spectacles is another word for eyeglasses~

[Olive Branch]

Hey! Actually, you and I and Baruch Spinoza don't believe in luck! I really should have said that I am so grateful to have found this site. You know, Spinoza (a Dutch philosopher, and I am of Dutch extraction) made his living grinding lenses for eyeglasses. Maybe my signature should be, "Don't make a spectacle of yourself!"

[Athenaeus]

THIS was good!

I guess this is where the Greek proverb " You have made me to wear eyeglasses" fits (Mou ebales ta gialia! in Greek)


I would recomend Bond James Bond to use

"Don't make a spectacle of yourself!" as his signature!



BTW I was refering to the "invention" of the Prehistoric people that Olives were edible!I think that this invention was no luck at all.
Sorry that I didn't make myself clear!

[Olive Branch]

"If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all"

But what can I plant for fall and winter? I have been loving nasturtiums in my salads all summer. Are panseys edible? I think they would be so beautiful in salad. And of course there are little lettuces -

Any other ideas? I'm in Southern California, so lots of things will grow in a ridiculously unseasonable way!

Athenaeus, you live in a Mediterranean climate. What do you grow in winter?