We purchased our family farm in 1993. Nash, a Building Contractor, and wife, Dellene, a C.P.A., moved from the Bay Area for a less-complicated life-style. Our life is far from uncomplicated, but we have lots of fun tending our olive trees, producing top-quality olive oil, and raising chickens, sheep, goats, and a Quarter Horse named Star.

Our olives are picked by hand. It is pretty tough work with each picker wearing a bucket strapped to his or her chest, and with taped fingers, pulling the olives off the branches into the buckets. A ton of olives will produce between 15 to 20 gallons of oil, depending on the variety. Unlike Italy, olive oil produced in the U.S. is not government subsidized, so prices tend to be higher. However, lots of imported oils are far from top quality. Extra Virgin in Italy refers only to the acidity, not necessarily cold-pressed and pure. There is also no way to tell how old imported oils are, unless you are buying from a reputable, gourmet food store.   

We let our olives ripen to reduce the bitterness and make our oils more usable in all types of cooking and baking. Dellene has used Sevillano and orange and lemon-flavored in baking scones, muffins and bisquits, as well as all forms of traditional cooking and saute. Dellene has basically found no dish that cannot be made with our oils, and a great trick is to replace half the butter with the same amount of oil in recipes that call for butter. In baking, she usually halves the oil called for anyway. Try a little experimenting, it's fun!