All About Olives!

 

It's olive season yet again!

 Many friends and family, including myself, are picking olives madly.

Its a great thing to do. These lovely olvies have been

picked on a property west of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

 I hope you will enjoy our olive picking journey!

                                         Here I am "the blog lady" and photographer

showing off my olives while sorting.

Introducing Gorgeous Helen who's father planted all the olive trees on the property. Helen is using a small rake made for olive picking which definitely makes the job easier.

Ian is working hard too with nets that are placed around the base of the tree to catch the olives.

Sorting any leaves and twigs from the olives so there is no

contamination when the olives are crushed for oil.

Just what we were waiting for ....lunch time!

with Kerry's delicious pumkin soup

made from pumpkins from the garden

and a sizzeling barbeque! 

Sorting the twigs and leaves from the olives and packing

them up makes tiring work for a little dog.

Olives that land on the ground are not usable so big

 tarps are needed....as well as groovy boots of corse. 

After the picking its all hands on deck for sorting.

No matter if you are young or old that means everyone!



Thanks to Kerry, Helen and family for allowing me to photograph a great two days of  picking, eating and sunshine in great company.

RECIPE

Pickling Green Olives

Wash the olives and ensure there are no twigs or leaves left on the fruit. Cut a cross at the    base of each olive then place them in a tub of water, buckets or a sink you don't need to

use for a few weeks.

TIP  If you don't have the time to cut the fruit its ok, it will just take longer for the    bitterness to leach out of the fruit so be patient.

Change the water every second day for a few weeks then check if the bitterness has been completely removed by tasting the fruit. Once the olives are completely leached they can be put into a brine solution.

BRINE SOLUTION

Fill half a bucket ,tub or vessel with water and place a raw whole egg in the water. Add salt

to the water until the egg floats to the top. Now put the olives in the brine mixture, cover with

a plate or an item which will keep the olives submerged in the brine and leave until they are salted to your taste.This could take a few weeks to a number of months depending on

your taste buds! Once salted you can remove the olives from the brine and place them in sterilized jars, then add ingredients of your choice. Lemon wedges, bay leaves, garlic and

chilli is a great basic combination. Pour olive oil into the jars and push all the ingredients in with it so olives are submerged.

TIP

Bay leaves are good to push down the ingredients if placed flat and submerged over to top of the olives.

The friut can be stored in a cool dark place like a cupboard or a pantry. I have left mine for up to one year for very tasty results. The green olives will change to a brown colour, this is ok.  

TIP

To eat sooner, leave for a few months or for an even faster way, drain some olives from the brine,, place in a bowl, add some garlic and herbs such as dill or oregano and drizzle

olive oil over the fruit.