Hi Jami,

If you want a great primer on olives, I heartily recommed Mort Rosenblum's
"Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit" (1996, North Point Press). This
book is a great introduction to the most generous and spiritual of crops (at
least in my opinion). Granted, Mort's orchard is in Provence, but he takes you
on a world tour of olive growing, olive recipes, oil production, and
olea-mythology. Along the way, you'll meet some unforgettable characters and
learn a lot about olives; you'll even be able to dispell some of your husband's
concerns about olives as a crop.

In addition, you can find a nice list of olive, olive oil, and olive-related
books and publications at:

BOOKS - The Olive Oil Source

Furthermore, the University of California, Davis, has a lot of information on
olives and olive growing. I think their address is on the aforementioned
website. Finally, you might want to search the SFGate website (www.sfgate.com;
that's the combined online effort of the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner)
for articles on olives and olive growing in the Wine Country.

By the way, I'm not an olive grower or otherwise connected to the industry. I
am, however, a full-blown olive nut. My grandmother used to cure olives grown on
my family's ranch just over the hill from you in St. Helena, so olives are a
venerable crop in the wine country (my family arrived in the Napa Valley a few
years before the Gold Rush). Sadly, we sold our ranch (which was bordered by
Pope Street and the Silverado Trail) in the late 1970's and I have since moved
to Colorado, so freshly home-cured olives are a lamented treat from my past. You
might ask some grape growers in the region what they know about olives,
particularly in your area. Olives and olive oil are making a huge comeback
there, with producers such as R.B. Cohn producing oils that stand up well in
international competition. You will probably find a plethora of information
right there in your own back yard.

Good luck with you search... and if you start growing olives, let me know. I'll
gladly buy 15-20 pounds form you each year just so I can start curing them
again.

All the best,
Ed Spear