MY LIL OLIVE TREE

When we moved into our new rental house, I was curious about a small tree planted in a wooden barrel planter on our front patio.  As spring came along (that’s October in Chile), small white flowers appeared amongst the silvery green leaves.  I began to wonder if possibly it was an olive tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In January (summer!) I could see the small “fruits” forming and was quite sure my guess was correct.  By about March they were looking like plumped mini-green olives.  Then they slowly started changing color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, at the end of April (autumn) when they looked like large blueberries, I decided to pick them.  After some research, I discovered there is a whole process for “curing” the olives.  This is necessary due to a natura,l extremely bitter flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I washed the fruits, scored the skins, and put them to soak in salt water.  We left them this way, changing the water every day, for 10 days.  Then we rinsed them again and put them in a jar with wine vinegar and salt water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m looking forward to tasting them after about 6 weeks to see if the experiment was worth it!  From one small tree I have one jar of olives.  To make this work, I may have to purchase an orchard!