After taking many courses offered at US Davis regarding small farming and the need for sustainable agriculture, Aaron and Nadine were hooked. They knew they wanted to grow olives and produce olive oil.
The first order of business was to purchase land that had the qualities necessary for fruitful crops, good soil, adequate climate, access to water, etc. They landed in Copperopolis, where not only did they find the perfect land for their new venture, but a golf course where Aaron could enjoy his other favorite past time...a nice leisurely game of golf.
Four years after the first olive season, this reporter was invited to participate in an olive harvest. Not one to turn down a new experience I readily accepted. Decked out in my finest grubbies (hubby in tow) I ventured to the 6 acre, 1000 tree sanctuary known as Olive Oil of Life on O'Byrnes Ferry Road.
I was greeted by none other than Aaron himself, his daughter-in-law, his daughter-in-laws father (visiting from Denmark), his wife Nadine, and other various friends and family. All gathered to help with the annual harvest. Chatter, harvesting and friendship ensued, each in heavy doses.
Though the work can be a bit tedious, its gratifying to see your once empty bucket begin to fill with a variety of olives - from Italian to Israeli, and everything in between - knowing that they will soon become tasty olive oil. Each plant has been carefully trimmed so that picking by hand is easily accomplished and no limbs are too high to reach. The trees are planted at regular intervals with plenty of grow space between and seemingly miles of irrigation lay near their roots. Pesticides are not used mainly due to the intense heat of our area not being conducive to natural pests of olive trees. Deer are kept at a minimum as the whole orchard is surrounded by high field fencing and birds, Aaron says, do not like the taste of the olives. All of this combined equals a bountiful crop.
As the sun beat down, the cool breeze from the lake whipped up and the young children of the family ran about offering water to parched gatherers. While I only put in an hour of work, I was invited to return the following week to join in the 'real' fun when four generations of Aaron's family will gather to complete the harvest and celebrate the end of the season with food, music, family and fun.
"I have always loved nature." Said 80 year old Aaron. "I love what I am doing."
The collected olives will be taken to Copperopolis Olive Oil Company where the knowledgeable team of John and Josie Ribeira will carefully mill the olives for Aaron and Nadine and turn their hard work into their own liquid gold...Olive Oil of Life olive oil.
In 2011 the then 3 year old trees produced enough olives for 30 gallons of olive oil. Aaron hopes that these now four year old trees will produce closer to 50 gallons of olive oil.
I will follow the progress of Aarons olives so that we can all see just what kind of time, energy and expertise goes into making local olive oil.
By,
Charity Maness