The rush to crush may be over in the wine world here in Sonoma County, but the next mad dash is hot on its heels - for Tuscan-varietal olive trees are a ripe for the picking and Petaluma's magical McEvoy Ranch makes it ever-so-easy for producing community crush oil.
In addition to milling McEvoy's own olive fruit, the ranch offers its Rapanelli mill and expert oil makers to
other growers in the region. "We can mill your olives with our stone wheels
or with one of our two blade mills. Our commitment to making high
quality oil continues in our custom milling program, giving our
customers the best possible oil that can be made from their fruit," says the web site for the scenic west Petaluma ranch positioned right along the border with West Marin off the D Street extension.
Due to the size of the McEvoy mill there is a 250 lb minimum for individual
custom milling; those growers with fewer than 250 lbs of olives are
invited to join one of two 2009 community mill days: Sunday November 15 or Sunday December 5. Price per lb of fruit: $1.00
For customers with small quantities of fruit who want to pool together with other growers,
Tuscan olive varieties and all other varieties will be milled in two
separate batches. Arrive between 9 and 12 p.m on either Sunda, preferably having
picked your fruit the day before milling, keeping it dry and cool.
Alternatively, charge is $450.00/ton
for custom milling (250 lb minumum) and the McEvoy mill is open from late-October to
mid-December. Reservations can be made with Shari DeJoseph (shari@mcevoyranch.com 707-769-4100.
Bring your own oil containers (well-marked with your name) unless you
would like to purchase them from McEvoy Ranch. Plan on 1 gallon from
approximately 60 to 80 lbs of fruit depending on the overall ripeness.Fruit will be weighed and charged accordingly upon acceptance.
Due to the amount of time to calculate and divide up everybody’s share
of the oil, the following Tuesday is the designated pick-up day.
If the weather is looking wet, be sure to check with Samantha Dorsey at 707-769-4123 or samantha@mcevoyranch.com.
Fruit which is very badly damaged by olive fly will not be included in the milling and leaves must be thoroughly discarded. Thanks to Teela Ridgeway for reminding me and many more Tuscan olive tree growers in and around west Petaluma to get on with our annual harvest and participate. Teela is a passionate protector of the Petaluma olives, having launched a program last year to hand pick practically every unwanted specimen in town in order to protect growers like herself and husband Mike from having to endure a potential olive fly infestation that would swiftly swamp the area. It is really imperative not to leave unwanted olive fruit hanging or rotting on the ground. And why would you when the offer to conveniently produce your own house oil awaits at McEvoy?
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