Central Texas Olive Ranch / Wedding Venue

[woodlandfarms]

Welcome to the mob. Let us know how it works out with Guido

Agromafia - CBS News

 

[bindian]

Cjm005,
Nice place. I look forward to your updates. I'm wanting to retire north of there near Paige or northwards. Do you mine telling me what you paid per acre? Please PM me if you don't want to say here.
Thanks and hugs, Brandi

 

[Cjm005]

I had two olive trees that froze and died last year and I'm about 30 miles North of Bastrop. I don't know the variety I had but apparently the wrong one.

I'm planning on going with Arbequina trees.. Hope that's spelled right. The are good to 15 degrees or so before major damage. What variety did you try? Young ones are especially vulnerable.

 

[Cjm005]

Cjm005,
Nice place. I look forward to your updates. I'm wanting to retire north of there near Paige or northwards. Do you mine telling me what you paid per acre? Please PM me if you don't want to say here.
Thanks and hugs, Brandi

Hi there... In my size range (15-30) I found the prices to be 6000-10,000 per acre... I paid on the low end, but there are no improvements for sure... Pasture and woods.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on the wedding venue

 

[OldMcDonald]

There are a couple of very beautiful orchards within a few hours of us - but nothing too close.

That is a most significant statement. I suspect you might be in too cold a place to have olives. I am the last person in the world to knock anyone wanting to farm. I was told when I was at school "You can't be a farmer. Your father is not one." Just watch me, I thought. There is no such word as can't. But there is a word cannot.

Do not believe the hype that is pushed in the US that olives will survive down to 15F. You need to be somewhere that never drops below 28 to 30. But some cold is needed too. If you get down to 25 then you have serious trouble. If there are any citrus trees growing nearby then you should be OK for temperature. We are just marginally cold for citrus, but three miles away and out of the river valley they grow them.

You mentioned an acreage and trees that suggest 200 per acre. That is rather intensive. What spacing did you have planned? I am on 6x6 metres, 277/ha or a few more than 110/acre. It is enough to properly manage, unless you go superintensive with all the problems that brings. You will need a lot bigger tractor than the one you have if you plan a few acres of olives - plus other equipment. The Arbequina is indeed a fine olive variety. I have a very small number myself - purely as pollinators because the fruits are so small they are a pain to pick. There is no way in the world you can hand pick a couple of thousand olive trees unless you hire a lot of labour. How much will that cost? How many olives can one person pick in a day? What is the value of their labour against the quantity of olives they pick?

You have not mentioned irrigation. Do you have water available?

As I said, I am the last person to knock someone who wants to go ahead, but I am the first to try to stop an inexperienced person from attempting to produce something for which the land or climate is not suitable. If you must go ahead with your olive trial, do not plant more than one acre and see what happens. It is not so much the trees being killed outright, although it does happen, but the killing off of all the growing points on the tips of the twigs. That can result in no growth the following season, and that means no crop the season after. A couple of years of that and you lose an awful lot of money. For your financial future sake, please think very carefully before proceeding.

 

[flusher]

That is a most significant statement. I suspect you might be in too cold a place to have olives. I am the last person in the world to knock anyone wanting to farm. I was told when I was at school "You can't be a farmer. Your father is not one." Just watch me, I thought. There is no such word as can't. But there is a word cannot.

Do not believe the hype that is pushed in the US that olives will survive down to 15F. You need to be somewhere that never drops below 28 to 30. But some cold is needed too. If you get down to 25 then you have serious trouble. If there are any citrus trees growing nearby then you should be OK for temperature. We are just marginally cold for citrus, but three miles away and out of the river valley they grow them.

You mentioned an acreage and trees that suggest 200 per acre. That is rather intensive. What spacing did you have planned? I am on 6x6 metres, 277/ha or a few more than 110/acre. It is enough to properly manage, unless you go superintensive with all the problems that brings. You will need a lot bigger tractor than the one you have if you plan a few acres of olives - plus other equipment. The Arbequina is indeed a fine olive variety. I have a very small number myself - purely as pollinators because the fruits are so small they are a pain to pick. There is no way in the world you can hand pick a couple of thousand olive trees unless you hire a lot of labour. How much will that cost? How many olives can one person pick in a day? What is the value of their labour against the quantity of olives they pick?

You have not mentioned irrigation. Do you have water available?

As I said, I am the last person to knock someone who wants to go ahead, but I am the first to try to stop an inexperienced person from attempting to produce something for which the land or climate is not suitable. If you must go ahead with your olive trial, do not plant more than one acre and see what happens. It is not so much the trees being killed outright, although it does happen, but the killing off of all the growing points on the tips of the twigs. That can result in no growth the following season, and that means no crop the season after. A couple of years of that and you lose an awful lot of money. For your financial future sake, please think very carefully before proceeding.

Well said. The name "Texas" doesn't jump to mind when the word "olive" is mentioned. Climate may be one of the reasons for that.

I used to live outside Corning, CA, a little town of 7000 souls in the North Sacramento Valley that calls itself the "Olive City". Growers have been hand-picking table olives from trees that are over 100 years old since the year 1900. The Bell-Carter olive processing plant occupies a large part of the downtown acreage (Lindsey olives and other brands). As you say, hand-picking is really labor-intensive and the growers have been struggling with a declining number of workers to do the picking. They have to ration the crews so each grower gets a fair chance to get his crop to market. As a result the picking season (starts in early September) has lengthened to about 3 months.

This website gives info on the varieties grown locally in Corning.

3 Common Olive Varieties Responsible for the California table olive and olive oil industries we know today ? OLIVE FANTASTIC

About 12 years ago California Olive Ranch began planting huge acreage (now probably over 20,000 acres) of trellised olive plants (really shrubs rather than trees) around Corning that are machine-harvested. They built a $25M olive mill in Artois, CA to process extra virgin olive oil.
See the video for more info.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jke8O8argFg

 

[EddieWalker]

...I used to live outside Corning, CA, a little town of 7000 souls in the North Sacramento Valley that calls itself the "Olive City".

When I lived in CA, we would go duck hunting at the Refuges up past Corning and on the way home, we always stopped at the Olive Pit!!! Love all the different types and seasonings you could get olives in.

 

[flusher]

When I lived in CA, we would go duck hunting at the Refuges up past Corning and on the way home, we always stopped at the Olive Pit!!! Love all the different types and seasonings you could get olives in.

Right on. My ranch was about 2 miles West of town. Bought many a gift box for holidays and birthdays at the Olive Pit. Also at Lucero's olive oil shop just South of town.

https://www.lucerooliveoil.com/

 

[Cjm005]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Believe me, this venture is not being considered without over a year's worth of planning. For those who are unaware, I would suggest looking at some of the following resources as Texas does indeed have a growing (albeit new) industry in olives. Many parts of Texas have very similar climates to parts of Europe where olives are grown quite successfully. Texas A&M University has actually been quite active in working with the new industry and has conducted several experiments on different varieties and growing conditions to determine optimal species.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/files/2010/10/olives.pdf
https://texasoliveoilcouncil.org/
https://www.sandyoaks.com/
Texas Award Winning Olive Oils

Back to the property. I am located in Central TX, in USDA climate zone 8B. When I meant there are no orchards within a couple hundred miles of me, I meant within my immediate region. There are several successful orchards both to the North and South of us, although my personal opinion is that the TX Hill Country might get a little cold for comfort. However, there are several orchards working in the region and have had some success. I have studied historical temperature data in our immediate area over the last 15 years or so. There are certainly the occasional days where the temperature might drop below freezing, but it certainly is not frequent. The suggestion that trees will not survive beyond 26-28 degrees is not coming from my opinion, but from established growers and operators inside the industry. Anyways, comments are always welcome.

I am in the middle of planning an irrigation system that will be supported by water well. I am currently working with a company who operates a working orchard as well as working as consultants for smaller orchards. They also raise and sell the trees. My particular orchard will be spaced at 12x18' which will be approximately 200 trees per acre. This is considered high-density, but easily manageable with semi-dwarf varieties like Arbequinas. In this format, the trees can be harvested either by hand or trunk shaker. The current plan is to plan initial 2 acres, followed by an additional 2 acres per year until the full 16-20 acres is achieved. During the initial few years, my plans would be to harvest by hand and sell fruit to other producers. Eventually our goal is to have our own small line of products... but way down the road.

I am taking the tractor to her new home this weekend. She will be used mostly for mowing and light field work. Also working on getting a price for perimeter fencing. I had a pretty good quote come in at $3.00 per linear foot, to include 48" tightlok hog panel, top and bottom strands of barbed wire to deter cows and varmints, with 2-7/8" drill stem line posts and painted t-posts. I thought it was a pretty **** good deal, waiting to see when they can get started. Luckily my neighbors have agreed to split the cost... as I have 1750' down each side and almost 800' across the front and back.

The goal this year is to have the property fully fenced, begin clearing some property and keep it brush hogged. I have about 12 acres of pasture and 28 acres of woods. Hopefully this year I can rent bulldozer for a week and try to clear a lot of the underbrush out. The youpon (or however you spell) is REALLY thick under the oak and cedar trees. More updates to follow.. still on the waiting list for well.