Oregon Olive Trees™

Oregon Olives 

Think global - buy local.

Oregon Olives

Oregon Olive Oil

Oregon Olive Trees

Trees for Sale

Introduction

Planting

Growing

Cultivars

Cultivar: Mission (origin - U. S.)

 

Mission is reputed to be the hardiest commercial olive cultivar in California, with trees having been known to survive 8 F.  It is also said to ripen the last of any of the commercial cultivars in California.  Mission olives are primarily used for pickling; however they seem to be one of the least desirable California commercial cultivars, seeing as how many Mission trees in California have been topworked to other cultivars.  This may be because it is the smallest olive of the top five commercial cultivars; and has the lowest flesh-to-pit ratio of the five… It also has very bitter flesh.  Freestone.

 

Mission olive trees have not done particularly well for us.  Of the first five field planted at the Reken Estate, only one survived the winter.  It was dug up and repotted, it was in such bad shape.  It is the tree on the right (below); the tree on the left is part of a new shipment brought up from California this spring.

 

This picture also shows a clear difference from a nursery grown tree form (the Mission tree on the left: a clear trunk beginning to branch at some distance above the ground); and how olive trees really want to grow (i.e. as bushes, sprouting new growth from the base, particularly after damage / setbacks, as has the tree on the right).

 

10/03/09:

In spite of what the Californians say, I just can't recommend Mission.  The tree on the right in the above photo is now dead, like all of it's shipment mates; of a new shipment of ten trees last spring these five below are doing the best.  Which is not to say they are doing good!

 

06/08/10:

As always, we will continue growing the trees that are still alive.  Based on experience so far, if one can get almost any cultivar big enough and well established, winter damage is much less extensive.

 

Good re-growth this summer.

 

10/16/10: