Olives

[grrlscout]

Olive season is in full swing here in Arizona. Finding olive trees in Phoenix is not difficult. They are a common landscaping tree.

In fact, I've done enough recon to be choosy, and now only pick from the trees with the biggest fruit -- which are few.

Problem is, the trees are so old, they're very tall. Often landscapers trim the lower branches. Thus, Olive Picker 2.0 came about:

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It did pretty well. Here's a batch I got last month, in a brine:

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Here's what they look like after about 3 weeks or fermentation:

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I'll change the brine about once a month, but that's it. They're be ready sometime in March.

[rwc1969]

Is it true you can't eat them fresh? I heard they were poisonous.

[grrlscout]

I don't know if uncured olives are poisonous or not. I don't think they are. But I do know they taste awful.

Curing draws out the oleuropein, which is what makes them so bitter.

[trax]

that's what makes them bitter? Here I thought it was like alimo...umm...never mind

[crashdive123]

Another great idea.

[rwc1969]

Thanks grrlscout. Up until recently I thought you could just eat em straight off the tree, guess not.

[Rick]

Who was the first guy that took a bite, spit it out, coughed and sputtered and said, "I'll bet this will be good if it's soaked a couple of months"?

Cool picker tool. It's amazing what you can do with a bent fork, an old water bottle and duck tape.

[grrlscout]

Who was the first guy that took a bite, spit it out, coughed and sputtered and said, "I'll bet this will be good if it's soaked a couple of months"?

Cool picker tool. It's amazing what you can do with a bent fork, an old water bottle and duck tape.

Haha! I imagine that someone found a cache of old ones somewhere, or floating in a pond, and desperately hungry, gave one a try.

Sometimes they are cured by simply sun-drying, or stored in salt. Lye curing is the most popular method today, since it's so fast. But supposedly it dulls the flavor as well.

Olive Picker 2.0 is way better than Olive Picker 1.0, that I used last year.

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The key to OP2.0's success is the swivel cup holder, which we took off the old pontoon boat, when we bought it. I absent-mindedly stuck it in the crook of a branch in our orange tree that was nearby, and kind of forgot about.

It was up there for months, until I decided that it would make a nice addition to the handle from a broken mop, and a water bottle. The swivel action catches way more olives than the fixed cottage cheese tub. Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[shooter_250]

it was MIkey....he saw one floating in a scum filled pond and well you know Mikey...he'll eat anything