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An Article On Central Coast California Olive Farm

By Brenda Warner


Many people practice several economic activities. There is an endless list of such activities farming being among them. Many people depend on farming for a living. You cannot also ignore the fact that it is through farming that people eat and grow strong and healthy. There are many crops that can be grown for their economic value. This supplies both local and global markets. Just to mention is Central Coast California Olive Farm.

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.

One factor that has made the plant grow well even in the coast is the fact that it can withstand majority of the climatic conditions. This means that the plant is adaptable to both sun and temperate conditions. The trees also adapt to various soils and retain their leaves preventing them from drying up. They can also bear fruit all round the year. Harvesting of the fruits is easy as they are short.

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.

Manual harvesting can be done in two ways. The methods include harvesting while placing in the baskets and the second being harvesting with the use of nets. The first method is the best but is not such effective and cost incurring. The second in which long sticks and rakes are used with the net is more effective and cheap.

As said earlier, there are limited methods of mechanized harvesting of olive. The reason behind this is that the machines will damage the tree branches and leaves. The first method of machine harvesting involve using a machine to shake off the fruits from the tree. The second involves the machine covering the tree and sucking off the oil. Harvesting should be done at the right weather conditions. This will help net a good harvest.

For those farmers with experience, they will not face any challenge establishing the correct season for harvest. The right weather conditions being during no rains and strong cold with fog that will interfere with the process of harvesting. Presence of these conditions will hinder the process including climbing of trees and other activities in the field.

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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