Olive Boy Says -

Harvest has been steady as we go! With lighter than normal harvest tonnage, labor has been plentiful. Pickers has great attitudes about harvest, because the olives are abundant in the orchards that have olives. 2008 brought the April 20th freeze—24 - 27 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on your location. Then May saw temperatures of 100+ degrees, with north wind, for a month. The culmination of harvest is about two weeks away.

Thanks sincerely! - Olive Boy

Shop The Olive Hut! The Olive Hut features an excellent assortment of olives, olive oils, olive products, nuts, fresh produce, and specialty items.

Be certain to check out our Free Recipes!

- Scott Patton

The Pimento

The Pimento, Pimiento, or Cherry Pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) that measures 7 to 10 cm (3 to 4 inches) long and 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3 inches) wide (medium, elongate). The flesh of the pimento is sweet, succulent and more aromatic than that of the red bell pepper. Some varieties of the pimento type are hot, including the Floral Gem and Santa Fe Grande varieties. Pimento or pimentão are Portuguese words for "bell pepper," while pimenta refers both to chili peppers and to black peppercorns. It is typically used fresh, or pickled and jarred.

Pimento as an olive stuffing

Green Spanish olives stuffed with pimento visibleThese sweet pimento peppers are also the familiar red stuffing found in prepared Spanish green Olives. The pimento was originally cut into small pieces and hand stuffed into fresh green olives to complement the strong flavor of the olive. For ease of production pimento is often pureed and formed with the help of a natural gum (such as sodium alginate or guar gum) into strips. This allows the olive stuffing to be completed by a machine and increases the availability of the olives by lowering their cost of production. However, it also makes the olives less accessible to consumers with peanut allergies, as those individuals may have a cross-reaction to guar.

Rachael Ray Makes Her Mom's Olive Spread