Community Press Information

 

 

 

 

  

   

 

  

Community Press Information

The Olive Press holds Community Press Days twice a year. The Community Press Day is a wonderful opportunity for the homeowner with only a few trees, growers with very small harvest and hobbyist wishing to create their own "Estate Oil".  All pressing is carefully monitored by our Master Olive Oil Maker and Co-Founder, Deborah Rogers.     

November 2012 - Sunday after Thanksgiving
December 2012 - TBD

For BOTH DAYS - The cost is $0.75 lb. The minimum is 5 lbs. No reservations needed.

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

We will be ready to receive your olives from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM (no later). This is a Community Event and meant to be FUN for everyone.  We cannot control the differences in the olives delivered, but we do prefer everyone follow our guidelines below, use your best judgement and common sense. Olives are a fruit, please think of them that way. If they don't have a fresh, clean unblemished quality to them (like peaches or apples!) they will not make great extra virgin olive oil.

We prefer that you pick olives in varying degrees of ripeness/color, 50-70% purple to black and 30-50% green is ideal. We realize that our CP dates may not be perfect for your particular variety and your olives may still be slightly unripe and on the green side.  If that is the case, please feel free to bring them. Also, if you are only able to participate in one of the dates and your olives are still green, bring them and we will try to blend them with riper olives. Please do not bring over-ripe (i.e. Manzanillo) olives on the December date.

We will only accept olives that are freshly picked no more than 24 hours before you bring them to the press; do not leave them in the sun to ferment or mold. Please DO NOT pick up fruit that has fallen to the ground (use a tarp or net under your tree when picking). DO NOT BRING FRUIT W/ FROST DAMAGE (brown and very soft).  We will inspect your olives when you bring them in, only the most desireable olives will be used and accepted, this is to guarantee only the freshest best tasting olive oil will be produced.

Bring your olives in an appropriate container, NO paper or plastic bags, inexpensive small plastic tubs/buckets are ideal.  (No trash cans please, if you can't lift it, neither can we).  The container weight will be subtracted from the weight of the olives giving us the net weight in pounds. All of the olives will be crushed together as they arrive throughout the day. Each person will receive back the amount of oil in the percentage of weight they brought in. In other words, if your olives represent 10% of the total weight of the olives, you will receive 10% of the oil produced.  We round up or down to the nearest ounce.  (We cannot guess or guarantee a certain percentage yield).

We will bottle your oil in a new, clean container, either plastic or glass, that you will pay for when you pick up your oil.  (We do not accept customer supplied containers for bottling). You can pick up your portion of oil 1-2 weeks after processing. We will post the pick up dates the day of the Community Press.

Please note:  We reserve the right to refuse olives that are not desirable to ensure the optimal olive oil is produced for all enjoying our Community Press Day.  This includes olives that are infested with the OLIVE FRUIT FLY. This pest has made its way throughout California with a vengeance! It causes damage to olives by laying an egg in a healthy olive. The larvae then eats its way through, making the olives unsuitable for olive oil. If you are not informed about the Olive Fruit Fly, consult your County Agricultural Adviser or.http://cesonoma.ucdavis.edu/hortic/pdf/olive_fruit_fly_home.pdf  If you have evidence of the Olive Fly you must pick all your olives and dispose of them properly.

 

 

CUSTOM CRUSH MINIMUM - 800 lbs. by appt. only.   (For information, please use the Contact Us form)

The Olive Press Mill is CCOF Certified Organic.