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<pre>Hi Adrian

>I am wondering if it is worth trying to grow an olive tree in our garden, and
if so, what variety would be best.

Hey, what the heck, go ahead and try. You are only talking one tree, right.
My concern is, where are you going to get this tree from around your area at
that latitude? I am afraid, you will not find any nurseries at your area that
carry olive at all. But, you never know.

>It would be better still if we could get it to fruit

Yes, only if you build a green house for it and pollinate it by hand. A guy
with your spirit, I bet the olive tree would love to have as an owner.

>and make our own oil!

Oil from one tree! Hmmm. Let see if you get 50 kg of olives 5-10 years after
planting. Let us assume you picked an Oily variety, then you will get around
20-25% oil after pressing. Then we are talking about a significant amount of
oil here 10-12.5Kg. That will probably last you quite a bit, actually. But
wait a minute, you need an olive mill to do that. I don't think you have one
even as far as the horizon. For the sake of argument, let say you have found
a mill, you get your bag of olives to them hoping to get it pressed. Oops,
they don't press less than 250kg lots. Your only option is to mix it with
other people's olive to get it pressed. What do you end up with? an oil not
100% from your tree. What a sad ending.

>I'd like to give it a go even if it fails!

I like your spirit. Go for it, Adrian.

Sadoun

P.S. By the way, I liked your message to the list on January 11th, and your
scientific way of thinking and referencing.
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