A Little of This & A Smidge of That!

As I watch our sheep grazing peacefully, I find myself reflecting about the wonderful year behind us and thinking with excitement what is ahead for the year 2012.

Olive oil competitions, state fairs, olive festivals and our farm being part of the olive growers industry in California.

This past year 2010-2011 we won two silver medals! One International and one Central Coast.  San Miguel Olive Farm produces quality extra virgin olive oil.

Our labels are informative for the consumer. We include acid level, peroxide value and harvest date. The acid level and peroxide value determine whether or not the oil is EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).  As of October of 2011, California legislation has tightened the standards of the labeling of EVOO olive oil. Eventually we hope for truth in all labeling.

The acid level determines the quality. The peroxide value determines shelf life. The harvest date determines freshness of the oil. 

Our acid level (0.02) is extremely lower than the 0.5 standard set by the COOC (California Olive Oil Council). The IOOC (International Olive Oil Council) has a standard of 0.8. Our oil has excellent quality, it smokes at a much higher temperature when used in cooking, and the oil remains stable as it ages. The lower the numbers, the higher the quality.

A low peroxide value (7 mEq/Kg)in our young, fresh oil, suggests a longer shelf life. Both the COOC and IOOC have values of less than 20 mEq/Kg. The lower the number, the longer the shelf life.

Our grassy, herbal, slightly robust EVOO will be available February 2012.

We look forward to your first taste of our late harvest 2011 Tuscan EVOO.

Our supply is limited, so "first come, first served."

Email us at: info@smolivefarm.com

Richard and Myrna 

Savor The Oil

Post Harvest News!

The verdict is in! Our olive oil is once again, award winning quality! We will have a limited quantity available, once the oil has settled and then bottled, in January 2012.

It is indeed extra virgin olive oil, with excellent chemistry in both acidity and peroxide levels.

If you would like to be notified when our oil is ready, please email us at: info@sanmiguelolivefarm.com

We are excited about the growing year ahead.

Richard & Myrna

Harvesting in a Wind Storm!

On the morning of December 1st we awakened to howling wind, and bitter cold.
All bundled up, we headed for the farm. The wind was blowing and the trees were swaying.
Some of the younger trees needed to be restaked and tied, due to the heavy winds.

We began our 2011 harvest, by picking a few olives from one of the new trees.

We instructed Glen, a first time olive picker, how to rake the olives off the tree into a basket.

Glen picked the branches from top to bottom, inside and out!

Blue skies and clusters of olives were seen, as we picked under the tree.

Glen and Richard. One took the top, and the other the bottom. Guess which one took the top!

The bin gets filled slowly, bucket by bucket. It holds about 1000 lbs.

Here are "The Olive Girls," Peeps and Pez," taking care of all the bugs in the grove. They are doing their own harvesting!

Arrived at the mill, only to find out the full bin was too heavy for the fork lift. Transfer in progress!

Mill Time!

Fall Colors At San Miguel Olive Farm

We live and work in such a beautiful area! This is a picture of some of our newly planted olive trees. They have been charted, and the ground has been tilled.

The owls are enjoying overseeing their territory. If only we understood owl talk! They love to gossip as darkness takes over.

What would we do without our faithful tractor and faithful driver! Many hours have been spent making the land good for our trees.

Excitement is high at San Miguel Olive Farm! We will be harvesting our 2011 crop on December First!  The weather is expected to be cold and crisp.

If you look closely, you can see some of the trees with an orange tag. These are the trees bearing olives. Due to weather, and the fact that olives are an alternate bearing tree, many growers have a diminished crop this year.

......thank you, Todd, for the beautiful pictures.
We will return soon.

A Day At The Farm

Yesterday was a beautiful day to play a little catch up! When we had the field "ripped", earlier this year, we had most of the coyote brush hauled away. Now we are gradually raking up the last of it, and taking it to the green area, at the dump. You can see the new trees in the background. All are doing well.

We had some rain a few days ago, which has made it much easier for pulling weeds from around the newer trees. As the trees get larger, the canopy provides shade, which discourages the weeds. Eventually weeding around the trees will be a minor part of our labor! Won't that be nice!!!

We picked a few olives to check for taste and oil content. The olives varied in size and color.

It's important to taste the olives as we approach harvest. We also check the inside and outside color.
All this helps us determine when to harvest our crop.

Gotta scoot...new day, more to do, back soon.

News Flash!!!!

A phone call last night confirmed that owls have arrived at our
San Miguel Olive Farm owl apartments!!!!!

Gophers beware!

To "Oil or not to Oil"

That is the big question facing us this year.

2010 was a great first harvest year for us. It was the year some of our trees were 5 years old, which is the maturity level needed to pick, and it was the year of heavy bearing for most growers.

Olives are alternate bearing, so every other year it is a light crop, or heavy crop. Weather also has its role. A freeze when blossoms are forming, can mean loss of olives. That happened this year, and affected many farmers.

As we are approaching harvest (we picked last year in December and January), we have to have a wait and see approach, as to whether it will be olive oil, or home cured olives!

Here is a picture of our very first olive crop, in 2009. Since we didn't have enough to mill just our olives, we needed to add them to others who had the same problem. But, we were so excited to pick our beautiful olives, and go through the process involved with milling.

 In 2010 we had a real crop!!!! Both of us picked from early morning, rain and all, to late
in the day....what excitement! Here is a picture of those olives, the very ones that earned us two SILVER MEDALS in Extra Virgin Olive Oil!

While we wait, we have been busy planting many more trees. It has been a busy productive year, and we look forward to sharing some of those days with you, with pictures and stories.