I am growing 3 types of olive trees on my patio in large containers. They were shiped from California as seedlings and are growing quite well. The trees are approx 4 years old. I live in Zone 9 - north Florida. Has anyone had experience growing, fertilizing, or harvesting olives?
Olive trees in containers
I can only speak to the harvest part. When I lived in Israel each of the neighbors had different types of olive trees and when the season arrived we picked a large number from each of the different types. They are, of course, totally inedible, and so to make anything edible without using the caustic chemicals used industrially, I found a recipe that relied on first cracking the olives and then going through many, many water changes. It took a few weeks as I recall. I then found a great marinated olive recipe and made delicious olives. I have read about making your own olive oil at home but you have to drive your car over the olives to collect any oil. Unless you made your own press...the ancient Mediterraneans did it, we should be able to do it too:) Hope this helps.