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<pre>Mike Wilson wrote:

>> Mike,
>> I am at Adelaide Uni in SA and so don't have much info on clay soil
>> growing. Would be interested in what comments you are going to make to
>> Roger at Medowie. I assume that drainage is the most important (depending
>> on slope) and was wondering what success with mounding in that situation?
>
>
> Based on my experience of growth and problems, the soil preparation makes a
> huge difference between healthy, bearing trees and sad, disease ridden
> trees. In clay soil the poor drainage leads to poor root growth. I found
> that adding gypsum to the soil to help the soil structure (and usually lime
> and clay soils are often acidic)

We, here, in Tamworth (Northern NSW, not too far -about 4 hrs drive-
from Newcastle) also have clay soils, caused in part by the repeated
cultivation of the paddock by previous owners to plant wheat year after
year!!! Our cley is in the form of a "plough pan" located some 100-200mm
below the surface. Our clay is NOT the type to react to treatment with
gypsum. We added crusher dust, as recommended by our tree supplier, but
NOT for the nutrients. Our idea was to break up the clay a bit, and make
the soil more friable. Seems to have worked a bit, at least.

>
> As for species ... no comment. Sorry, but I just don't know enough about a
> number of species to comment. I have never seen a Barnea!
> In my limited experience, Frantoio and Correggoila seem to do well for me,
> Kalamata have been a problem, Manzanillo & Sevillano have proved to be
> excellent table olives, as has Azapa, and Hardy's Mammoth have been a major
disappointment

Frantoio have been our most significant trees, those of the same age as
our Manzanillo are quite significantly better in growth and production
than the Manzanillo. Barouni have produced well, as have Kalamata with
some TLC. The Manzanillo are producing nice large fruit this year, no
doubt that will change as they mature and begin to produce "full" loads
of fruit. Hardy's have produced a lot of trunk and vegetative grwoth
this season. I have heard that they are slower to mature (and thus later
to produce fruit) than others, only time will tell!

> I'd be interested in getting hold of some Koriniki (sp?) for planting this
> winter. About 60 would be good if anybody knows of a supply?
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike Wilson.
> Hunter Valley.
>
>
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> http://www.sadoun.com/olive.htm
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>



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<pre>> I'd be interested in getting hold of some Koriniki (sp?) for planting this
> winter. About 60 would be good if anybody knows of a supply?

I think Marlborough Olives have them - down at Lara near Geelong. Olives
Aust also.

Regards
Peter Caird
www.victorianolivegroves.com
0418 392 157
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<pre>The clays of Adelaide (Bay of Biscay) are quite different to those on
the east coast, whilst a nightmare to build on due to movement in
weather they can be highly productive. Adelaide contains some of the
best examples of established olive groves used as public recreation
particularly on the north side. Some must be well over 100 years old
(Brian Chatterton in his book mentions that due to occasional severe
frosts in Italy there may be no trees as old as those in Adelaide) Up at
the Mt Barker highway the battle against olive ferals was widely
publicised. So it seems rather strange that someone from Adelaide Uni,
esp home of Waite campus which is researching feral olives, would be
innocently asking about olives & clay? The use of gypsum (calcium
sulphate) is to floculate clay into larger particles to improve drainage
without altering pH. Gypsum can also be used in soils high in sodium.
In other areas naturally occurring gypsum is the subgrade that prevents
drainage. So, it really is better to obtain a proper full soil test from
an improved laboratory including one on the subgrade to be sure.

Roger Farquhar

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<pre>Regarding self sufficient home olive growing. I have worked out that you
need 18 trees.

Varieties

Kalamata - Oil and Black Olives - best all round variety - 3 trees
Manzanilla - Oil and Green Olives - produces early in thge season - 3
trees
Sevillano - Green Olives - 2 trees
Verdale - Oil and Green Olives - produces good size crops most years - 3
trees
Jumbo Kalamatas - Table olives to impress friends 2 trees
Koroneiki - the best all round olive oil olive - 5 trees

Try 3 of each.

When productive - 18 times 50Kg = 900Kg of olives

Process 600 Kg for oil = 120 litres of oil (you can get these procesed
at 30-40cents/kg commercially without the hastle of getting rid of the
by products. ie about $200 -The cheapest press is about $5000 unless you
are Heath Robertson (tractor PTO to pulley with galvanised wire to a
solid piece of cast iron with olives packed in sacks. Grandma, Grandpa,
inlaws and out laws, kids etc doing the crushing before hand!!!)

Process 300 kg for table olives - process these in food quality plastic
barrels with 10% salt.

There will be enough for the family and give away to friends.

Hope this helps.


Stan Kailis
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<pre>Thanks Stan, thats great info. I think I might start
of with a few less plants as the numbers of fruit and
oil produced seems a bit large, but now at leasat I
have a good idea as to what I should grow.

Michael Johnston
Medowie NSW



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<pre>From: Stan Kailis <kailis@ca.com.au>
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 22:54:37 +0000

Regarding self sufficient home olive growing. I have worked out that you
need 18 trees.

When productive - 18 times 50Kg = 900Kg of olives

Process 600 Kg for oil = 120 litres of oil (you can get these procesed
at 30-40cents/kg commercially without the hastle of getting rid of the
by products. ie about $200 -The cheapest press is about $5000 unless you
are Heath Robertson (tractor PTO to pulley with galvanised wire to a
solid piece of cast iron with olives packed in sacks. Grandma, Grandpa,
inlaws and out laws, kids etc doing the crushing before hand!!!)

Process 300 kg for table olives - process these in food quality plastic
barrels with 10% salt.

Great info, Stan, thank you! I need to find where I'm moving to before I
can think about planting, but this is exactly the kind of info I need. 120
litres of oil = about 30 gallons. I use about that per year in my soap
business, though it should double fairly soon. Add another 12 gallons (48
liters) or so for food use.

One question: how long is the period between planting the tree and full
production? What level of production can you expect before the trees are
fully productive?

Thanks again,
Cyndi

--
__________________________________________________ ________________________
Cyndi Norman cyndi@consultclarity.com
Owner of the Immune Website & Lists http://www.immuneweb.org/
Tikvah -- Organic and Natural Products http://www.tikvah.com/
Handcrafted organic soaps & cosmetics, beeswax candles, safety equipment
__________________________________________________ ________________________
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