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| Old Olives live on and on... |
Olive trees are now being planted EVERYWHERE in California because it is hot and dry and they don't take a lot of water. Back in the day they were brought here and planted around the California Missions and ranches because one good size tree would produce 4-5 liters of oil. Handy for many things.. but especially lamp oil. Nowadays they are planted like grapes, on trellis so they can be machine harvested. The big old trees are everywhere out here but have to be hand harvested.
We have added to mix by lining our long driveway with olives. We have an old hand turn press which we could use SHTF (s*&t hits the fan), but we generally lay down cloths, pick the olives and take them to the local olive press at a nearby winery. The secret to GREAT olive oil is to press them the same day you pick them so you have to plan on a group to help and a whole morning exercise. The BEST part of old olives in a field.. ? If you aren't in the mood to pick them in a given year you just ignore them.. Olive trees live for 100's of years and couldn't care less if you notice them or pick their olives.
Locals who are in the BIZ nearby make infused oils with mandarins, peppers.. you name it. These are for salads and cooking and are divine.
You can use the oil in lamps....We have found simple mason jar lamps are the easiest to burn and have essentially no smell. The smaller the wick the better with olive oil and we consider it a plus that they put out a tiny amount of smoke which seems to help with mosquitoes. We also put a few drops of essential citronella or geranium oil in our lamps which makes them smell nice AND keeps bugs away.
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| Any small jar with a lid and wick will work |
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| You can get fancy too |
Last, I haven't canned (or brined as it is called) olives yet. Maybe next year...
Enjoy.. and never think anything is TOO hard.. you can learn to do anything...
Survival Chic
