Sacramento Valley Olive Day Educational Seminar on April 18

 California, Farming & Gardening, Pests and Diseases, Seminars  Comments Off
Apr 092012
 

Now let’s go to the west coast of the United States for Sacramento Valley Olive Day. Below is the schedule for the Olive Day educational sessions. As you will see it is full of great information. I’m not sure if there is a registration fee, but as the Boy Scout motto says – be prepared.

The Sacramento Valley Olive Day will be held on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at the Veterans Memorial Hall, 1620 Solano St, Corning, CA 96021. The event is co-sponsored by Musco Family Olives, Bell Carter Olives, California Olive Ranch, West Coast Olive Products, and the Glenn County Agriculture Commissioner.

7:30 a.m. Registration
8:00 a.m. Agriculture Commissioner Update – Doug Compton, Tehama County Agriculture Commissioners Office
8:20 a.m. Review of Olive Fly Situation at the Canners 2011
8:35 a.m. Olive Pest Management District Updates
8:55 a.m. Olive Fly Control Update – Bill Krueger, UCCE Farm Advisor, Glenn County
9:25 a.m. Mechanical Harvest Update – Louise Ferguson, UCCE Olive Specialist
9:55 a.m. Coffee break
10:15 a.m. Overview of Olive Diseases Including Olive Knot – Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County
10:45 a.m. Olive Root Physiology and Root Functions – Joe Connell, UCCE Farm Advisor, Butte County
11:15 a.m. Research Updates: Stem Water Potential, A Tool for Irrigation Scheduling and Monitoring and Mechanical Hedging of Oil Olives – Bill Krueger
11:45 a.m. California Olive Committee Activities – Alexander Ott, Executive Director, California Olive Committee
12:15 p.m. Lunch, courtesy of Musco Family Olives, Bell Carter Olives and California Olive Ranch

 


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May the sun shine through your branches.

www.olivecrazy.com

Olive Links of the Week: October 30 through November 5, 2011

 Olives and Olive Oil in General  Comments Off
Nov 062011
 

Every day I read lots of material about the olive, some from books and others from the internet. Each week I share with you the articles, recipes, research documents, and other information I find on the internet. Most of it is very interesting and some of it inspires me to write an article or two of my own. None of these links are in any way my opinion or are endorsed by me. I am sharing.

Olive Links of the Week

Artisans: The flavours of Italy in our backyard
New Zealand Herald
The Chinnerys of Mangawhai, NZ are featured along with their award winning Divinity extra virgin olive oil.

Thurman: Specialty food scene gets a shot of spice
Argus Leader
Sandra Reynolds opens the Olive Destination in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Aussie Standard Wrapped, Paul Miller Pitches New World Olive Oil Quality ‘Alliance’
The Olive Oil Times
Paul Miller of the Australian Olive Association is featured.

Gong for Cradle Coast Olives
Weekly Times Now
Tasmania’s Cradle Coast Olives wins Australian Olive Association competition, Best in Show.

Recipe: Carrots, vinegar, evoo, honey & cumin
Cookteaser Blog
This is an adaptation of a Mario Batali recipe.

“Franken-Lime” Persian Lime EVOO Cupcakes & Your Chance To Win!
Devo Olive Oil Co.
Ignore the Halloween stuff, I like this recipe.

“The Crushed Olive” Opens in Stony Brook Village
News LI
Stony Brook on Long Island is host to the newly opened The Crushed Olive.

Phoenix chef honors locally produced food
AZ Central
Chef Dustin Christofolo is a disciple of the farm to table movement.

Gruppo Pieralisi Powers World’s Largest Olive Oil Mill in Jaén
The Olive Oil Times
This is one huge mill. I also like this article because I can’t resist the usual cast of crusty old European men, who if it weren’t for the cigars and grappa would look their ages – 38. The Padres are there too. Amen.

Harvest Festivals Part 1 | Three Picks From the Season of Plenty
Just Luxe Affluent Lifestyle Guide
Three upcoming harvest festivals. I think the non-luxe crowd is invited too.

Record entries to gourmet oil competition
Voxy
New Zealand Gourmet Oil Competition just completed it’s eighth competition.

California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cooking with Amy Blog
Amy visit the California Olive Ranch.

Bumper olive crop expected in Syria
All Headline News
Syria’s bumper crop of olives may be hampered by ongoing unrest and the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Milk wars claim first casualty
Sydney Morning Herald
Price wars are coming for many products, olive oil included.

‘No room to cut olive oil prices’
Ynet News
Taxes, subsidies, and price wars in Israel. It’s everywhere folks.

Love Me Tender: Church View’s new range of English Angus Beef
Foodepedia
The British food bandwagon – it’s all about rapeseed now, not olive oil.

Olive oil exports up in Almeria
Euro Weekly News
And where is this olive oil headed – to Switzerland.

Olive war pits settlers against farmers
The Montreal Gazette
The UN says 7,500 trees have been damaged so far this year in Palestine.

Olive yield down but farmers look to next year’s harvest
The Daily Star Lebanon
Two week harvesting delay caused up to 50% decrease in crop yield some Lebanese farmers say.

Master Gardener: Olive fruit fly can decimate an olive crop
Mercury News
This is no doubt a question from a non-farmer. This worries me since the olive fruit fly moves fast and will destroy California olive crops. It is incredibly expensive to treat non-commercial trees.

A Perspective on Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Premium Quality: California olive oils
A report from Liliana Scarafia at Agbiolab. Very interesting.

May the sun shine through your branches.

www.olivecrazy.com

Olive Links of the Week: October 9 through October 15, 2011

 Olives and Olive Oil in General  3 Responses »
Oct 172011
 

Every day I read lots of material about the olive, some from books and others from the internet. Each week I share with you the articles, recipes, research documents, and other information I find on the internet. Most of it is very interesting and some of it inspires me to write an article or two of my own. None of these links are in any way my opinion or are endorsed by me. I am sharing.

Olive Links of the Week

Olive crop down this year, and pest rebounds
ChicoER
Olive fruit fly is back in disaster-ridden northern California.

Americans have much to learn about olive oil
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
California olive oil expert, Paul Vossen, says “Many of the familiar supermarket olive oils are poor quality. Most have been sitting far too long and are fermented or rancid.”

College Recognizes Olive Center’s Dan Flynn with Award of Distinction
The Olive Oil Times
UC Davis Olive Center Executive Director, Dan Flynn, is recognized for his service.

Government to form higher council for olive oil sector
The Jordan Times
Jordanian government to set up a higher council to regulate the Kingdom’s olive oil sector.

Rosemary Mint Chicken
Fox 10 TV’s Studio Ten
A delicious recipe from Vic and Ike’s in Pensacola, Florida.

Spain is “Exporting the Wrong Image”
The Olive Oil Times
A major Spanish olive oil exporter speaks out.

Announcing Olive Oil Tasting Graphs on Our Website
The Olive Press
Check out the Ascolano olive oil tasting graph – interesting and useful.

Farmers harvest olives as wall cuts through village
Ma’an News Agency
An update on the weekly sadness that is the West Bank.

Fine dining in the wilds of Alberta
The Sydney Morning Herald
How about an Arctic Char Poached in EVOO and Chardonnay?

Get adventurous with vegies
Newcastle Herald
It’s spring on the plantery southside and it’s time to eat some early vegies with extra virgin olive oil of course.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Something to Remember
Real Age
Extra virgin olive oil may, May, MAY help with memory and Alzheimer’s disease – emphasize the may. It still tastes good and is good for you.

Olive Research Farm
The News
Legal wranglings in Pakistan over olive research farm property.

In Search of Good Food | Savor the craft of fine olive oil with Oliva Bella
Courier Journal
Go olive oil tasting in Louisville, Kentucky.

Adara Teases Montclair With Molecular Gastronomy
Baristanet
I am mostly interested in the evoo foam. I want to know how they make it and what does it taste like.

Got Olive Oil, Honey, and Sugar? Then You Have a Great Scrub
Bella Sugar
For all of us on the topside of the planet, winter is coming and so is dry skin. Give it some sugar.

Namibia: Maltahöhe Has Big Tourism Plans
All Africa
Maltahöhe Village Council wants to acquire Daweb Farm and start a tourist attraction complete with working olive farm for the purpose of making olive oil.

Guilt-Free Tailgating: Creta Farms™ Introduces Line of ‘Better For You’ Sausages
PR Newswire
Sausages that have replaced the animal fat with evoo.

Chilled Tomato Basil Soup
Chef Woody
I don’t care if there is a chill in the air, I love chilled soups anytime of year.

How to Maximize the Health Benefits of Olive Oil
Fitsugar.com
More advice on how to treat your olive oil.

Let’s eat: Making spiedino di mare
CBS Wink News Now
Di mare and olive oil – a great combination.

Homemade Deliciousness at the Greek International Market
West Roxbury Patch
Visit the Greek International Market in West Roxbury, Massachusetts for some Greek olive oil and other treats.

May the sun shine through your branches.

www.olivecrazy.com

Press Release from Senator Lois Wolk on California Olive Oil Standards Law

 Legislation, Olive Oil Standards  Comments Off
Oct 152011
 

Congratulations to Senator Lois Wolk, California Senate District 5. Her bill, SB 818, regarding extra virgin olive oil standards in California passed and was signed into law last week. The law lays the groundwork to protect consumers and provide a fair marketplace for growers and producers.

Here is the press release from Senator Wolk’s office.

“SACRAMENTO—Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation into law today that takes the first step in leveling the playing field between the fast-growing California olive oil industry and imported brands that dominate the market with largely low-quality products mislabeled as “extra virgin” olive oil.

“I applaud the Governor’s decision to sign Senate Bill 818,” said Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis), the bill’s author, and chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Olive Oil Production and Emerging Products. “This law is a necessary first step if we want to protect consumers, who are demanding more and more of this healthy product, and provide California olive growers and olive oil producers a fair marketplace in which they can compete and thrive.”

Wolk’s SB 818 tightens standards for “extra virgin” olive oil, bringing California’s standards into conformity with recently updated USDA standards consistent with those commonly accepted abroad, including in major olive oil producing countries such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, and Turkey. The bill had unanimous, bipartisan support throughout its passage through the State Legislature.

Recent studies show that “extra virgin” olive oil label is widely misused by imported olive oils.  In fact, a 2010 report by UC Davis found that analyzed olive oil sold at retail in three California regions found that 69 percent of the imported samples did not meet international and USDA standards for “extra virgin” olive oil.

“I thank Senator Wolk for authoring this legislation and for her efforts to call attention to this ongoing issue,” said Brady Whitlow, president of Corto Olive, a family-owned olive grower and olive oil producer based in the Lodi region. “Mislabeled olive oil is a very real issue which not only hurts California consumers but has the potential to devastate this state’s emerging olive oil industry and limit our ability to expand and create new jobs.”

“Now, using the clear standards set in place by this new law, California can now begin to pursue options for enforcement,” Wolk concluded.”

May the sun shine through your branches.

www.olivecrazy.com

Olive Links of the Week: October 2 through October 8, 2011

 Olives and Olive Oil in General  Comments Off
Oct 092011
 

Every day I read lots of material about the olive, some from books and others from the internet. Each week I share with you the articles, recipes, research documents, and other information I find on the internet. Most of it is very interesting and some of it inspires me to write an article or two of my own. None of these links are in any way my opinion or are endorsed by me. I am sharing.

Olive Links of the Week

From the Macarthur Chronicle in Australia “All about olives at Silverdale farm“.

“From the Farm: Recipes for Garlic” delicious garlic recipes in the Catonsville Patch.

An article from the Tehran Times entitled “Olive oil heart health benefits“.

Know what to eat, from The Olive Press – “Olive Oil Included in Harvard’s New Healthy Eating Plate“.

From the Sacramento Bee “Running to Fair Trade: A Taste of Palestine“, an ultra-marathon event.

Make your arugula salad more tasty and healthy too. From The Coronado Patch “Arugula: The Versatile Green“.

“How to Make Your Own Moisturizer Scrub Using EVOO” from the website At Home Cure for Acne.

From The Olive Press “Four Things You Should Never Do with Your Olive Oil“. These are four big no-no’s.

Congress and President mess with the US olive industry – again! From RecorderOnline.com “Olive growers decry foreign subsidies“.

Here is a useful website – National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. It is full of interesting articles and data.

From Andalusia-travel.com it’s “Olive harvest season in Spain“.

From Babble.com’s The Family Kitchen another great recipe entitled “Creamy Pumpkin Roasted Potato Salad“.

“Andalusia Fines 17 Producers €2,500 for Inferior Olive Oil” from the Olive Oil Times.

From the Nashville Scene “Best of Nashville 2011: Food & Beverage Writers’ Choice“.

“Olive harvest” from HobbyFarms.com.

And now for another way to use an olive tree. From The Weekly Calistogan “Gratitude Trees give visitors a chance to speak their hearts“.

“Settler clashes with Palestinians reach boiling point” from the Sydney Morning Herald.

From SecondAct.com “Make Your Own Healthy Salad Dressing“.

“Lablabi: A Soulful Bowlful” from the Wall Street Journal Food & Drink section.

From Reuters “California tightens olive oil labeling rules“.

From the Los Angeles Times Travel section “Olive harvesting in Umbria, Italy, drips with tradition“.

From OnMilwaukee.com “Oro di Oliva brings “liquid gold” to professional and amateur chefs“.

May the sun shine through your branches.

www.olivecrazy.com

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