Olive Oil Adventure

We like to pile up the projects at Sylverleaf. Gene and I have A LOT of great ideas, and sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. At the beginning of this month, we purchased 40 baby olive trees (20 Picual and 20 Arbequina) from Sierra Gold Nurseries (we just love that JP guy and his helpful crew).

Gene prepared the holes and rammed in two metal t-posts per hole. We will need to put deer proof cages around each baby tree for protection. I decided I would take on the task of getting the chicken wire cut and ready. It’s always an experiment working on something for the first time. That was definitely the case with me and the chicken wire. I did figure it out (after much frustration), that for me, it was best to roll the entire 50 foot section out on the ground. If you roll it out, then walk on it, flattening as you go, it’s much more manageable and easier to cut. I’m sure this isn’t some new idea or anything, but this process made my life much easier.

Of course part of the way into my job, I run out of chicken wire. We really do live in the middle of nowhere, especially when you need something mid-project. This happens all the time! But in the end, the job was completed and I learned how to work with something new. I love working with tools, figuring out the mechanics of things, and more importantly, how to do things simply and in a timely fashion.

Today, we are approaching mid-month, and the trees (at least 20 of them) will go in the ground. But in the meantime, Gene decided we would harvest for the first time this year!!! On November 8^th, 2007 we worked from 7:15AM (proper daylight) until 7:30PM (in the headlights of my truck). We picked the olives differently than in past years: I picked by hand and Gene used our new handheld harvester for the first time. We picked about 850 lbs. with just the two of us. It was an amazingly beautiful day and we worked in tanks and tees. It was probably one of the most exhausting days I’ve had in a long while. I am VERY excited to taste the new oil, especially after the labor of love that went into the harvest.

If all that isn’t enough to cram into a couple of days, we were invited to do a Comcast interview called “Profiles.” The crew of Comcast met us at Ruthy’s Bar and Grill in Yuba City at 10:00 AM, the day after we wiped ourselves out picking the olives. We did a 13 minute interview (Gene fabulous and me petrified) and discussed our journey in the olive oil business. There aren’t too many things that make me feel as uncomfortable as a TV camera. They are sooooo intimidating, even though the interviewers make you feel as relaxed as possible. I am told the show will air sometime in April of next year, so we’ll keep you posted as we learn more. Maybe by then, I’ll have gotten over my nervousness about it!! We thank CB, KD and RT (hey, congrats on your recent engagement!) of Comcast for their continued support and interest in Sylverleaf.