Crop Report, Table Olives June 2024

June Drop

June is when we Californianos assess how much of the olive crop the trees have retained and how much fruit was dropped after May's bloom.

Stone fruit trees can be quite prolific, and producers of prunes and table olives prefer a lighter crop load so that the existing fruit "sizes up". Prune growers thin their crops by "green shaking"; they bring in harvesting equipment to shake some of the fruit loose from each tree early in the season to reduce crop load. Table olive farmers are different and can usually rely on "June drop"; the trees essentially self thin, although a grower will sometimes come in and do extra thinning, if deemed necessary for good sizing. [Conversely, if you're growing olives for oil, you want as much fruit as the trees will hold; we're not as keen as the table olive folks are on this behavior].

Temio and I walked through the Sevillano and Manzanillo orchards today on  Father's Day and could see which blossoms produced an olive and which did not. He was happy with what he saw, and believes we're in good shape without having to do any additional thinning.

Looking Forward

Late May and early June brought several days of high temperatures and high winds, and the back half of June looks similar. We are under red flag warnings denoting fire danger in the valley today with gusty 24 mph winds and low (16%) humidity.  Between now and July we're looking at another 9 days of temperatures in excess of 100ºF, so Temio is irrigating every other day right now to keep the trees happy and will continue to do so protect the crop.

Harvest Timing

The tentative start date for harvest is the end of the second week of September, so our first ship date to you is likely Monday, September 16th. My current thinking it to wait until August 1st to start accepting money for pre-orders.

If you have not yet added your name to the list to receive a notification when pre-orders start you can do so now. Just navigate to the collection called "Raw Fresh Green Olives", click your preferred olive variety and box size, then add your email address at the prompt. 

You are also always welcome to call me to discuss your fresh olive choices, and I can add you to the list from my dashboard. There is no obligation either way. The "Please notify me when back in stock" button is just that; it's a way for you to receive a separate automated email about readiness, and it is a way that helps me and Temio plan labor for picking and packing.

Questions? You can reach me at 530-727-2004.  Liz