Fresh Olive Information

2010 Fresh Olive Season Update! A mild summer led to a delayed bloom and while not as bad as last years crop, it is going to affect our offering this year. We will start taking orders Sunday September 12th for green Sevillanos. We will not be offering Colossal Sevilanos and the next down, Jumbo Sevillanos will be a very limited supply and we may have to substitue Extra Large Sevillano if we run out before we can update the website order form. The green Manzanillas will have a very limited season this year because of a freeze last December, we will not offer black Manzanillas at all this year and may not offer Black Sevillano. Too early to tell yet for Black Sevillanos. We do have a good crop of Lucques this year, so if you lye cure, consider using Lucques if your favorite green olive is not available. We are also offering it for the same price as the other olives, $17 per box. That's reduced from last years' price by the way :)

To Buy Fresh Olives:
Click here to purchase fresh olives for curing at home. Seasonal product.

We will do our best to have the most current information posted here. Check back here on the Fresh Olive web page , or go to the Store fresh olive page to see if the online order form is active for the type of fresh olive you want.  The order form for each of the different varieties will be enabled as each becomes available, and will later be disabled when we run out or the season ends.

Each year we get more customers interested in home curing their own olives, so if you are really interested, please don't wait until the last minute to order.

Fresh Olive Seasons: for green olives,usually from about the middle of September and runs till about October 20th, for black olives, the season is usually in November (weather permitting.) This can vary greatly from year to year. We may take orders a little early, but they won't be fulfilled until the product is available.

We will keep the page open all year to let you know how the season is going.

We now have an online advice forum for those of you interested in communicating with the olive specialists at M&CP farms (the owners of greatolives.com.) This was created in July, 2005 for sharing information about curing fresh olives. You can reach it at www.curingfresholives.blogspot.com. This forum is a BLOG, also known as a "web log." If you would like more information about blogging, please check out www.blogger.com.

We are also on Facebook, become a friend ... look for Penna - GreatOlives.com

These olives are fresh from the tree. If you would like some information on curing fresh olives, check out oliveoilsource.com, or go to our Recipes page for a Mediterranean Partida Style Recipe, a Lye Process for Green-Ripe Olives, and a couple of Fresh Black Olive Cures. These are just a couple of examples for resources on olive curing information.

The raw olives will be delivered in boxes containing 10 pounds of the type and size you specify, except that the olives offered as "field run" will contain various sizes. They will be shipped FedEx Ground. To the right is a picture of the type of box we use, it is 5 inches high, 8 1/4 inches deep by 16 inches wide. The total box weight will be about 11 pounds.

If you wish to order more than 300 pounds of fresh olives, please contact us, as they can be shipped common carrier in 18 pound lug boxes for a reduced price.

The Green Sevillano olives can be ordered in the following sizes:

Note: These sizes are only a guide, olives are actually sorted by a system that involves a quantity of olives that achieve a common weight.

The Lucques, Manzanilla olives (all types) and the Black Sevillano are not sized, there will be various sizes just as they come from the orchards, which we will call "field run." They will be run through a sorter to remove debris and fruit that is too small to be of value.

Almost all varieties and sizes of olive will sell for the same price per box, the exception is the Lucques olive. Once cannery prices are announced in our area, we will post our selling price on this page. To give you some indication of prices, from 2003 to 2007 our olives sold for $14.00 (USD) per 10 pound box. This year it will go up to $18.00 (USD) per 10 pound box (except for Lucques, which we price a bit higher.)

Online Order Form: For Fresh Olives has been moved.

Updated April 2010
Click here to purchase fresh olives in season.

* The Manzanilla olives (all types), Black Sevillano and Green Lucques are not sized, there will be various sizes just as they come from the orchards, which we will call "field run." They will be run through a sorter to remove debris and fruit that is too small to be of value.

** The black olives are available in November, weather permitting. It is possible for orchards to lose their entire crop of black olives. To purchase, please check this page to confirm availability and then you can visit the store to place your order. In 2004, black olive availability lasted until December 1st. In 2005, black Manzanilla olive availability only lasted from Nov. 7 to Nov. 18, and black Sevillano lasted from Nov. 7 to Nov. 22.

***Or until we run out, remember, this is a low yield harvest.

Curing Fresh Olives FAQ

• Where do I get lye?

• How do I Cure Green Olives with Lye?

• Can I store the olives awhile before I start curing them?

• What kind of salt can I use?

• If I want de-pitted olives, do I de-pit them before or after curing?

• How do you make the olive black instead of green?

• How long can one store lye cured olives? How long can one store salt cured?

• I purchased a 10 # box of manzanilla olives from you last year which was great but when I got them the olives were all slightly bruised. This only got more apparent during curing. Was the bruising caused by the shipping and is there any guaranty this won't be the case this year?

• I received the Sevillano olives from you two days ago. They were beautiful, thanks! I washed them, cut each one, and put them to soak in water, per the Partida recipe. I have changed the water each day. I have a few questions:
  1.) Instead of striking each olive (Cracking the Olive vs Slicing) [because it seemed to bruise them, maybe I did it too hard], I sliced them with a knife. Will this work OK?
  2.) I noticed that the Partida recipe consists of 10 days' soaking in water [changed each day], then at least 4 days in brine. Will this be enough time to soften the olives?
  I ask because right now the olives are quite hard. I have tried home-cured olives that were 'crunchy' and I wondered if it were because they were not cured long enough [I was not very fond of the crunchy consistency.] thanks for your comments, ciao

 

• Where do I get Lye?.... here's a link to an article from University of California, Cooperative Extension, Tulare County.
• How do I Cure Green Olives with Lye?.... Here's a link to an article from University of California Cooperative Extension, 1720 S. Maple, Fresno, CA 93702.
  We also have a lye cure posted on our Recipes page, as well as others and a link to the "Greek" or salt cure for ripe black olives.
  Don't cure black olives with lye.
• Can I store Fresh Olives?... We do our best to get our fresh olives to you at the peak of their maturity. Since olives are a fresh fruit, we recommend that you start to process them as soon as possible after receiving them. Please start planning and ordering supplies for your method of curing before ordering.
• What kind of salt can I use?... In some curing recipes the salt called for is "table" salt, but Kosher or pickling salt can be substituted.
• Do I de-pit them before or after curing?... You want to finish curing your olives prior to pitting. raw olives do not pit well and bruise badly.
• How do you make the olive black instead of green?... You can darken your green olives to some degree if you are using the lye process.. this can happen by leaving the olives exposed to air for several hours each day during the rinsing process. You will not be able to get the dark black color of a California black ripe with out using ferrous gluconate.
• How long can one store lye cured olives? How long can one store salt cured?... Salt cured olives can be stored for many years, the key is to dry them sufficiently so there is inadequate moisture to support spoilage organisms, then at time of usage the olive can be blanched in boiling water and retossed with olive oil for use. The lye processed olive can last for 6 to 9 months in the refrigerator, but the enzyme activity will eventually cause softening of the tissue and impart an unpleasent smell. This can be taken care of by making a 1% vinegar brine, 1 part of 5% vinegar to 4 parts water.
• I purchased a 10 # box of manzanilla olives...how do I avoid getting some bruised fruit?... Manzanilla olives do not pick and sort as clean as sevillano olives. If you require less blemish I would suggest the sevillano. You could also leave the olives exposed to air during the rinsing process for an hour each day and this will darken the olives masking the blemishes.
• Cracking the Olive vs Slicing (and crisp or soft)?... Cracking the olives or slicing them is done so the bitterness will leech out into the water that you are changing daily. Some preperations involve cracking so the pit can be removed. As far as discoloration, this will happen with cutting and more so with cracking.
  This olive will remain crisp unless you use an olive with higher maturity. (The method discussed was the Partida cure, mentioned on our recipes page.)
• Be sure to check out our Recipes page for a couple of different ways to cure Fresh Olives.  We encourage customers to submit any new curing recipes to share here.