December 31, 1998
"How much oil will it make?" was the most common question at the Olive Press in Glen Ellen last month. Marsha Moran was presiding over a gaggle of hopeful backyard olive growers at the first community press day this year.
Exhausted pickers stood around the scales with an interesting assortment of olives; small and big, green and ripe. The usual minimum of 800 lbs is waived several times a year to allow for a pooling of smaller quantities. While there were a few people with as much as a half orchard box, there were plenty with no more than a few hard earned grocery sacks of their own olives. Most of those interviewed agreed that picking their olives and getting a quart or so of their very own oil beats letting them drop and get tracked into the house and onto the carpets.
Those who have a few hundred pounds can call ahead and get matched up with other growers with similar varietals. Most throw their olives in with the crowd and get their representative amount of oil at the end of the day, an interesting mix of the many varieties growing in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys.
The next community press day will be January 16. Call The Olive Press for details at 707-939-3711
Critelli Olive press in Richmond offers a similar FREE crush for up to 200 lbs on 1/23/99 - (9:30am - 4:00pm)