Grow olive trees for table olives

Grow Olive Trees for Table Olives

Home-cured olives will transform your pantry into an epicurean powerhouse. Olives are low in calories and full of vitamins, minerals and polyphenols. One olive tree will enhance your landscape and provide enough olives to cure in a variety of styles.

If you live in USDA Zones 8-10, then you can grow olive trees without protection. The most important thing to consider when choosing trees is the pollination requirements of each variety.

Some cultivars like 'Frantoio' are self-fertile. They don't require another variety nearby in order for the tree to set fruit. Another consideration is whether the tree is suitable for oil or table olives. You want to make sure the tree you choose has enough meat to make curing worthwhile. 'Frantoio' is an excellent choice for both olive oil and table olives, with a nice nutty taste to the cured fruit and a heavy production habit.

Another good variety is 'Manzanillo.' The fruit of this tree is very large, with a mild flavor. A similar variety with even meatier fruit is 'Ascolano.' 'Leccino' makes excellent table olives as well. All three of these varieties need to be planted with another variety in order to set fruit, so if you have room for only one olive tree, 'Frantoio' is your best bet.

If you've ever tasted an olive straight from a tree, the bitter taste probably remains in your palate's memory. The bitterness is due to oleuropein. Luckily this compound is removable, and that's what you do when you cure your olives. Typically people use a water cure for green olives and a brine cure for black olives.

Some people use a lye bath instead of a water cure for green olives, but it's not necessary and possibly dangerous, so forget about it.

For green olives, here's a water cure method. First, slit each green olive along its length. Then rinse with cold water. Place clean olives in a large container and cover with cold water. Weigh down the olives to keep them submerged--water balloons or plastic bags filled with water work fine. Keep in a cool corner of the basement or garage and change the water every day for 2 weeks. Rinse well and place olives into canning jars, leaving about an inch of space at the top.

Then make a brine solution. For 5 pounds of olives, boil about 8 cups of water and dissolve about Âź cup of salt (non-iodized).

Cover each jar of olives with the brine. Then you can add whatever flavors appeal to you. Classic additions include bay leaves, garlic, lemon peel, or oregano. Top off each jar with olive oil and screw on lid. Keep in cool place. The olives will be ready in a few weeks and remain tasty for about a year.

For black olives, you don't need to slit the fruit. Proceed as for green olives, using fully ripe fruit, and keep submerged for about two weeks, changing the water every day. Then rinse the olives and cover with a stronger brine solution of 1 cup of salt (noniodized) to 1 gallon water. Every week drain the olives and add a new brine solution. This will take about a month. The last brine should be half-strength. Rinse and dry the olives, then place in jars. Add flavoring to suit your tastes such as vinegar, dried herbs or spices. Cover with olive oil on top and screw on lid.

Keep in cool place. They'll be good for at least a year.