Harvest is Here

Harvest has begun and it is a busy and exciting time. Many Califonia growers are reporting very low crop levels. Even though olive trees have a tendency to alternate between low and high crop levels year to year, this year is worse than normal. The reason seems to be a warm February followed by a March frost that caused the trees to drop the flowers that turn to fruit. This primarily happened in the valley region. Since we are at a 2000 foot elevation we were not as affected. We are trying hard to not let this act of nature decrease supply or raise prices. We care for our own trees and also buy olives from local farmers and some of them seem to have scraped by. We will not know until harvest is done in December but we are very hopeful.

Book Excerpt

“The Predimed (Prevencion con Dieta Mediterranea) Study, Based in Spain, has changed the way we look at health benefits of extra virgin olive oil in the Mediterranean Diet. … The groups on the Mediterranean Diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil and with nuts saw a 30 per cent reduction in rates of heart disease.” From the book,The Olive Oil Diet by Dr. Simon Poole and Judy Ridgway