NEW E-BOOK ON GROWING OLIVES.

By Brian Chatterton.

Published by Pulcini Press, Castel di Fiori, Italy.

Brian Chatterton has written a new e-book on olives following the success of Discovering Oil - Tales from an olive grove in Umbria (now in its third reprint). The e-book is supplied on a CD and includes dozens of photos, charts and diagrams.

CONTENTS:

Operations in the grove

There are four chapters detailing the seasonal operations in the olive grove.
Numerous photos and diagrams in the WINTER chapter help explain the various pruning systems. They help growers make a reality check on the effectiveness of their pruning.
The AUTUMN chapter draws on much Italian research to compare different systems of hand, semi-mechanical and mechanical picking for efficiency and cost.
SPRING provides many ideas on landcare, irrigation and water harvesting. Olives as a means of reducing soil salinity is discussed.

After the olives leave the grove

The e-book includes chapters on processing the olives into oil, the taste, quality and marketing of oil. Labeling and terroir are discussed and explained. These chapter are relevant to consumers of olive oil as well as growers.

Management strategies for small growers

The e-book is intended for small olive growers and for people with olives in their gardens. There are a few chapters that develop management systems for small growers which allow them to compete with the large mechanised groves.


Australian and New Zealand Olivegrower and Processor. September - October 2006 Issue 51

The ancient olive on ebook

Author and olivegrower Brian Chatterton has put together a comprehensive guide on growing olives and producing oil tailored to the small grower in a compact and easy to use ebook.
The CD Growing Olives and Producing Oil, accessible in either PC or Apples systems, is a store of information on the latest practices in cultivating and processing this ancient fruit.
From his grove in the Italian region of Umbria Chatterton has packaged a guide that gives the best from thousands of years of tradition and the latest from modern olive research and practices.
The book covers all aspects of growing and processing with sections on pruning, picking, land care and how to increase profits on small groves.
Calling it an ebook is almost misleading because its multimedia format allows the presentation of illustrations, charts and words in a much more extensive and vivid way than the printed page.
It's a form and format that works well particularly because it has, for example, more scope to illustrate the intricacies and implications of pruning. That section has about 50 photographs and charts.
The ebook's other major asset is that it is easy to navigate. Its various sections are ideal for retrieval of information on a range of topics.
As well as having the contents listed in conventional chapters there is a seasonal collation of information for winter, spring, summer and autumn.
Each of these sections gives an overview of the major issues and considerations for that time and stage in the plant's life.
There are also two sections dedicated to specific information and advice for the small grower: "The small grove and olives in the garden" and "Survive and thrive as a small grower."
There are also comprehensive sections on processing, tasting and marketing which have invaluable tips and summaries of current wisdom about olives and olive oil.
Chatterton litters his guide with careful and considered opinion written with authority from a person who has a good grasp of the practical as well as the theory and is conversant with the old as well as the new as he shows in the following comment on gas filled bottles.

"Many Australian and New Zealand growers have come to olivegrowing from grapegrowing and winemaking and have immediately assumed that filling the bottle with an inert gas such as nitrogen is a good idea. Research carried our in Italy shows that it is not clear cut. There seems to be little benefit unless the oil is kept into the second year. The oils from the south benefit more than those from the centre where anti-oxidant levels are generally higher."

Chatterton's latest contribution in literature on the olive industry is a great starter for anyone wanting to learn about olivegrowing and oil production, but it also serves to update knowledge and makes a great resource and reference tool.
It informs but its style and form also allows the user to engage.

The author

After his early years in India where he was born in 1941 Brian Chatterton's family moved to Adelaide. From school in Adelaide he went to the University of Reading in Britain for his degree in agriculture. After graduating Brian took over the family farm at Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley. The 500 ha. farm grew cereals, sheep and vines and Brian added a winery to the farm enterprises. Olives had been planted around the homestead and along some tracks but they were not harvested for olives.
In the early 1970s he became a part time journalist writing about wine and farming in the local paper. In 1973 he became an MP and a couple of years later became Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests for the Labor Government in South Australia. He resigned in 1983 and in 1987 he became consultant on dryland farming in West Asia and North Africa, In 1990 with his wife Lynne, to use as a base, they purchased an abandoned farm in Umbria with a small olive grove where they live. They recounted their experiences in Discovering Oil.


PURCHASING THE E-BOOK

The e-book is available from the Australian and New Zealand Olivegrower & Proccessor, 67 Anzac Highway, Adelaide. 5000 Australia.

For mail orders the postal address is P.O. Box 54 Goodwood 5034. S.A. Australia. Tel +61 (08) 8375 9888 and Fax + 61 (08) 8351 5899 or email admin@olivergrower.com.au The Australian and New Zealand Olivegrower will accept all international credit cards and can post orders around the world.

Alternatively the e-book is available from Hunters Wines, P.O. Box 128 Renwick, Marlborough, New Zealand. Email <wine@hunters.co.nz>

For people living in Europe I can supply the e-book directly. Contact me at <blchatterton@tiscalinet.it> for more details.