Olive Harvest on the Central Coast
Olive harvest on the central coast is an exciting time of year. With new acreage dedicated to growing olives added each year, the olive harvest has become a ‘big deal’ here in San Luis Obispo county. The olive harvest traditionally follows closely on the heels of the grape harvest. It’s a convenient event in that folks here to pick the many thousand acres of wine grapes stay around to also pick the olives.
Olive oil originating from San Luis Obispo county is some of the best produced in the United States, and competes with the finest olive oils from around the world. If you haven’t tried our olive oil, suffice it to say you are missing out! As a result of many of our imported olive oils from abroad found to be adulterated by lesser oils, California has taken the lead in establishing quality standards for EVOO – or extra virgin olive oil. Oils that pass these extremely strict standards receive a special label/sticker indicating its quality.
To learn more about the central coast’s olive oil we recommend a visit to an olive farm, and visiting during harvest is as good as it gets. A few of our favorite local producers are Pasolivo, Oleo Olive Oil and Kiler Ridge. All these folks are gearing up for harvest and will be busy over the next few weeks as they pick the olives and ready their mills.