Browsing Category

D’Oliva Olive Oil

D'Oliva Olive Oil, Junkyard Wisdom Advent, Random Thoughts,

Top Seven Christmas Gift Ideas

Surgeon General’s Warning: This post contains entirely too much sarcasm and attitude. Proceed at your own risk.

If you’ve been to Costco lately you know Christmas is near. Nevermind Halloween, Thanksgiving, and whatever else in between … gift giving season is already here.

A lot of people ask, “Roy, you are wise, and creative, and thoughtful . . . what makes a great Christmas present?”

It’s exactly the kind of question a 60-something chubby bald white guy who grew up working in a junkyard is qualified to answer.

So here are my top ten Christmas gift ideas:

If haircare is

…

D'Oliva Olive Oil, Random Thoughts,

Roots or Fruit?

When D’Aun planted her olive grove I learned about the alternate bearing nature of the olive tree. One year it produces more than the average amount of fruit, and another year it produces less but invests into deeper roots. Well, it’s not quite that simple, but you get the idea.

My takeaway from this? Our spiritual lives are much the same. Sometimes we bear a lot of fruit (and you are welcome to leave this blog and go read Galatians 5). Other times we do not outwardly look like we’re doing much, but our energies are poured into strengthening our …

D'Oliva Olive Oil,

D’Oliva Just Won It’s Most Prestigious Award To Date!!!

A very special surprise arrived in the mail this week. To our delight, D’Oliva Olive Oil was awarded a GOLD medal from the Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition!

When we planted the trees in 2009, D’Aun dreamed of winning a gold medal at this competition. And this week it actually happened! She could not be happier. The Los Angeles competition is one of the top events in the world (they claim to be one of the top five), so we’re really humbled and honored to be recognized on an international level.

We knew we had a great …

D'Oliva Olive Oil,

California Olive Oil Council

D’Aun and I had a fun weekend at the California Olive Oil Council annual meeting in Monterey. Sometimes our little D’Oliva Olive Oil felt overwhelmed by the huge operators, but everybody attending genuinely wanted to help each other create better California grown olive oil. Stories, ideas, and data flowed freely between “competitors.” It didn’t matter if you had 100 trees or 100,000 trees because all in the industry want to see great things happen with locally grown olive oil.

The panel discussions were led by a wide range of growers, marketing people, certified judges, retailers, technical experts, and trade association …

D'Oliva Olive Oil,

Olive Harvest Diary

It was dark and quiet when I arrived at the Goble Ranch on Sunday morning. Not yet even a glimpse of the coming sunrise, only the owls in the eucalyptus grove calling “hoo hoo” as they wrapped up a night of hunting. It was eerie in some ways, beautiful in others.

I opened the D’Oliva shed doors, flipped on a few lights, and started setting up for the days olive harvest. Yellow lugs were placed at the end of each row, a cooler of drinks set out, the ATV gassed and ready. Soon the crew began arriving, a parade of …

D'Oliva Olive Oil,

The Newest D’Oliva Olive Oil is Available!

D’Aun’s wonderful little endeavor has a new release and the latest extra virgin olive oil is now available!

Harvested in October, the oil has been “racking” since milling. After the olives are harvested and milled in the first 24-hours, racking takes months and allows for a natural filtration so the oil retains the highest quality and a longer shelf life. The oil is clearer, smoother, and tastier.

This year the oil is in 500 ML bottles. This is larger than last years 375 ML bottles, but at $29 it’s basically the same price per milliliter. Plus by popular demand the …

D'Oliva Olive Oil,

D’Oliva Olive Harvest 2014

Harvest Day 2014 is complete! With a labor crew of 45 plus 15 friends and family we completed the olive harvest quickly. We started in the fog before sunrise and almost all the olives were off the trees by noon! Sadly this is because the harvest yield was especially low this year.

People often ask why a harvest is big or small, and the answer is usually “that’s farming.” But there were some good reasons why 2014 was a low yield year. One reason is olive trees are alternate bearing, meaning they have some seasons when they produce abundant fruit …

D'Oliva Olive Oil,

D’Oliva Online Store is Open!

It’s been quite the process, but the D’Oliva Olive Oil online store is finally open. People have been pestering me and D’Aun about this for at least a year now. We’re really happy with the look and functionality. Hopefully it makes shopping easier for everybody.

Visit the store here and see what you think. We welcome feedback and would love to hear from you.

Of course the award winning D’Oliva oil is for sale in the store. You can also find D’Oliva soap and gift cards, and be sure to check out the great new logo items!

There are two …