An Overview On Central Coast California Olive Farm

By Brenda Warner


Farming is an economic activity done in many parts of the world. As a matter of fact, many people depend on farming for their daily needs. Apart from providing income, the activity also leads to provision of food feeding the population. This sustains a healthy, wealthy life. There are many types of cash crops grown both locally and globally. Central coast California olive farm is among the largest farms of cash crop olive farming in the world.

Olive, which grows as olive tree is one of the major crop grown in coastal California. It is the source of olive oil which has variety of uses. It is a short and an evergreen tree squat in shape. It produces a long, thinner fleshed and usually smaller fruits. These fruits are harvested once they turn green or purple. Planting, cultivation, harvesting though seemingly easy can also be challenging.

These plants can survive in almost all the climatic conditions making them able to grow at the coast. They can grow at both sunny and moderate environs. They also adapt by retaining or not dropping their leaves surviving in almost all the types of soils. With fruit bearing, they can have fruits for almost the entire season. Since they are not tall, harvesting is a simple task.

Currently, many cash crops have developed a mechanized system of harvest. This however is not true when it comes to this plant. Mechanization does not go well with its harvest. It is even proven that the quality of the resultant oil goes down with an increase in mechanization systems used. This means therefore that high quality oil results from manual work of picking them manually with the use of hands.

Harvesting by hand can be done in two ways. Use of a basket and using a net while picking with hands are the methods. The former involves picking the fruits and dropping them directly to the basket. Though the best, it is ineffective and expensive. The latter involves using long sticks and rakes to drop the fruits as they collect in the net. This method is more effective.

Mechanization has not really evolved in olive harvesting. This is because the use of the machines can lead to leave and branch damages. The mostly used method involves the machine being used to shake the plant to drop the fruits. Secondly, the machine envelopes the plant and sucks the oil from it. Correct weather conditions ensures a good harvest.

For experienced farmers, they will not find any difficulty in identifying the season. One should harvest before onset of rains and cold or fog as this will faced with a lot of difficulties of climbing trees among others. A group of up to three people work on one tree during harvesting.

For farmers with few number of trees, harvesting is usually a family affair. Those with large scale plantations need to hire labor though this has been a challenge as many young people do not like agricultural or farming activities.




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