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Fruit should be plumping up with last month’s rain and less heat stress. Check for ripening. Fruit will be changing colour from green to yellow-green, then through a purple transition to black. Green olives are bitter and have a low oil content, they feel hard when squeezed. Black olives have much more oil and a more mellow taste, they will yield slightly when squeezed. Olives may look ripe when fully black but you need to look beneath the skin for the true picture. With a sharp knife cut a wedge out of the olive (see picture). If the flesh is still a greeny/creamy-white all the way to the stone it is not ripe. The flesh will start to change to pinkish-red as the ripening tracks from the skin towards the stone. Look for this change. A black olive is fully ripe when the flesh is pink from skin to stone.  However, there is more to consider. Think about the flavour you enjoy and pick accordingly. More green olives for bitterness and bite, more black olives for a mellower flavour. Ideally (according to the Italians) your picked crop should be 1/3 yellow-green, 1/3 purple and 1/3 black. Or you could just pick everything and toss it all together for your ‘Grove Blend 2021’ It’s your choice!! Looking forward to an abundant harvest and more fabulous Marlborough olive oil. 
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The nights are chilling off now and as grape harvest is coming to an end we can all hope for some good rain. Keep irrigating if you are lucky enough to be able to do so. You should have under tree growth controlled by now but if you didn’t weed spray last month you are probably too late. Remember the 60 day withholding period before harvest. Just mow underneath or use a line trimmer instead. Think about organising your harvest. People - friends, family and neighbours must be looking for new experiences this year (as they won’t be going overseas!). What could be better than a few days picking olives and catching up with news around an olive tree. Have a harvest day and enjoy a long lunch or shared BBQ afterwards. Equipment - bins, buckets, gloves, rakes, mats. Make sure they are all clean, intact and ready to go. Start monitoring your fruit for signs of ripening. Different varieties ripen at different times so you will know your trees best. Don’t be fooled by olives showing colour change already, they have a long way to go yet. If trees are really dry and stressed they will tend to darken fruit early and even start to shrink or shrivel. At this time of year olives should be putting on flesh bulk but we need rain for that.  The March Olive Grove The first month of Autumn and the nights are getting longer. Hopefully there will be some relief for trees with cooler temperatures and maybe some rain. This sticky, humid weather may encourage Peacock Spot to develop on your leaves. It is a fungal disease and will first appear as small sooty spots on the leaves upper surface. These spots become dark green to black as they increase in size and develop a yellow halo around them. Infected leaves will fall prematurely. A copper spray will help protect against further infection. Our dry Marlborough climate means Peacock Spot is not a big problem here but keeping an open habit with your pruning will minimise the risk.
Continue to irrigate young trees as needed until we get some rain. If you are considering planting new trees, get those orders in. Trim off the extra shoots especially at the base of the tree and keep those weeds down underneath as we get closer to harvest. Start thinking about harvest. Do you have enough nets, bins, oil storage containers? How are you going to harvest this year if you don’t have any WOOFERS? Maybe plan for a neighbourhood harvest day and share the work and a meal afterwards. We were caught out with COVID19 last year and many didn’t harvest. Let’s plan ahead and have a big successful season this year. The February Olive Grove Marlborough has certainly dried out over the last few weeks so keep an eye out for stressed trees and irrigate as necessary with older trees. Olive trees will turn their leaves up with the underside becoming more obvious. This is to reduce transpiration and loss of moisture through the green shiny side with exposure to the sun. The tree will look more grey/green when it is trying to conserve water in the heat of the day but revert back to dark green when temperatures drop. Young trees will be the most at risk so a good soak once a week will keep them growing and encourage roots to go deep for moisture. Olive trees tend to be shallow rooted if water is easily available on the surface. This is a good time for leaf analysis, with the trees in a stable growth stage, to get an idea of nutrient requirements. Fruitfed have sample bags and can advise on this or contact Hills Laboratories directly. Fertiliser recommendations, however, shouldn’t be applied until after harvest or in early Spring. With all the growth that has happened over the last few months check that stakes and ties are still on appropriate places and retie as necessary. This is especially important for young trees to ensure staking doesn’t inhibit good shape development. Lift spray guards to avoid a glasshouse effect in this hot sunny weather. Keep the grass and weeds under control. Keep Cool in this traditionally very hot last month of summer!!  The January Olive Grove Happy 2021. Looking forward to a year with a few less challenges for our olive growing community!! Not travelling overseas means you can focus on achieving even better results from your olive grove. Continue to irrigate as necessary. With little rain and hot dry days any newly planted or young trees will be most stressed at this time of year. It takes about three years for young trees to get their roots down sufficiently to survive a Marlborough summer. Growth will be very strong now. Assist young trees with good pruning (as outlined in August) to establish the desired shape. Continue to remove excessive growth and suckers/water shoots on more established trees before they get too hard. A foliar spray of boron can assist with nutrients for fruit development at this stressful time of year. Most importantly take time out this month for a break and maybe enjoy some of last year’s oil drizzled over fresh bread sitting in the shade of an olive tree, perhaps with a glass of chilled Sauvignon!! Quintessentially Marlborough in Summer!!
The December Olive Grove Usually a quiet month for your olive trees as they flower and pollinate. Hope for some warm fine days without the strong winds. Softer growth will be starting to appear so some light trimming now could save major cuts later. Remember to keep an open habit for better light penetration. Keep up the mowing so trees are not competing for nutrition. The regular rain has kept the grass and weeds growing well. Ensure young trees get sufficient water for their growth but older trees should have established root systems to keep them going as the soil dries out. Enjoy friends and family over the festive season and have a great break as we all look forward to a more predictable 2021.  The November Olive Grove Pruning should be finished by now as your trees will be budding up ready for flowering. Budding up seems quite early this year and there is a profusion of potential flowers. Let’s hope the weather gods are helpful in 2020 and send only gentle breezes, soft rain and sunny days to facilitate good pollination at flowering time. Get your planting completed this month so young trees have a chance to establish before the heat of summer hits. Grass growth is still vigorous so keep mowing and keep weeds away from under trees – spot spray or grub out. Time to fertilise again for young trees with a handful of Nitrophoska spread around the drip line. If older trees look a bit stressed they may also benefit from an extra shot of fertiliser to perk them up. You can still spray foliar Boron if your trees are not in flower but it’s getting late. If you irrigate, check your system and ensure the drippers are in the right place to encourage lateral root growth. Rabbits are breeding and feeding so watch your young trees with fresh tender shoots and slender trunks for signs of damage and control the pests using your preferred method. This is an important month for flowering and pollination, the basis of an abundant crop for 2021. Watch and wait.  The October Olive Grove This is the main planting month so get them in the ground. Ensure trees are well watered in pots the day before planting. Water again once in the ground. Stake well at planting to avoid any future root disturbance. Continue with grass and weed control under and around trees. Keep an eye out for any evidence of disease especially on new plants. Leaf roller and thrips can infest new growth on small trees. Control with a small handheld spray bottle at site of infestation. You don’t need to spray the whole tree. The nor’west winds have started in force so make sure younger staked trees are secure and retie where necessary especially after a good ‘blow’. This month is the time to apply a soluble boron foliar spray if you need to enhance flowering and fruit set. Fruitfed Supplies can advise on what is available. Suckers/water shoots may appear at the base of larger trees, remove these before they get too big as the growth will deplete nutrients for the rest of the tree. They are much easier to kick off with your boot when small than having to get out the loppers prior to harvest. Finish off your pruning this month before flowering kicks in. Enjoy the good days out in the Olive Grove because its pretty changeable out there at the moment.  Flaxbourne Olive Oil Awards Success After a very challenging olive harvest in 2020 we have received some great news from Flaxbourne Olive Oil. Jo and David entered the Auckland Royal Easter Show Olive Oil Awards with four of their 2020 olive oils. All four got awards. GOLD for Frantoio and a special blend of Leccino, Picual and Manzanillo SILVER for Leccino and their Italian blend of Leccino and Frantoio We are very pleased that Olive Press Marlborough Ltd has helped them to continue their success in producing award winning olive oil. The Olives NZ Conference and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards are on this weekend. Let’s hope Marlborough olive growers are successful there too.  The September Olive Grove Spring has sprung and grass and weed growth is very strong. Keep this under control as it can get away on you very quickly and has potential to stunt growth as well as interfere with pollination by restricting air movement. If you are planting new trees, this month and next are the best time. Stake trees well before the Spring nor’westers arrive. Ensure irrigation is set up and running without leaks and blockages. Fertiliser time for young non cropping trees, approx. 75gm per tree of Nitrophoska Blue spread evenly around the drip zone will give them a boost. Main pruning should be taking place. Ensure good hygiene by cleaning all pruning equipment regularly. Simply dipping into a mild bleach solution between trees will avoid the risk of spreading disease. Pruning should be undertaken on dry days and later in the morning when plant material is a lot drier. This also helps to minimise the spread of disease. The days are getting longer so enjoy the extra sunshine in your olive grove.  The August Olive Grove The weather is warming and work in the grove should be underway before Spring kicks in fully. A good time to review drainage in the grove or install irrigation depending on what is required. If you have done soil or leaf testing earlier in the year then your specific fertiliser should be applied by end of month while the ground is still soft. Young trees would benefit from some nitrophoska. Preparation for planting new or replacement trees should be considered and organised. If you want to move trees to a new home then approximately 1/3 top and sides would need to be removed to help in reestablishment. Check stakes and ties are secure or loosened/retied to allow for growth without cutting into the wood. Grass and weeds will soon start to flourish so keep mown or sprayed. Start pruning. The most important part of ensuring a good crop. Principals of pruning: Prune a portion of your grove annually to encourage new growth. Olives fruit on growth from the previous year so that needs to be encouraged in a controlled way if you want a regular crop. Clear out the centre of the tree to allow air movement and light which encourages growth and diminishes disease. Increased light and airflow improve flower pollination and also enables the leaves to photosynthesise and ‘power’ the tree to healthy growth. An open canopy reduces wind resistance and diminishes damage in those nor’west winds. If you spray for disease an open canopy facilitates spray penetration. Lower the canopy to a height that facilitates your harvest method eg if you hand/manually harvest keep the canopy within reach. If you use poles or clappers/rakes they will need to be able to reach the top. If you machine harvest with a tree shaker then an open canopy minimises collection of detritus such as dead leaves, twigs, bird’s nests, etc. Sunshine facilitates ripening so the wider the canopy the better the potential exposure. Seal major cuts with pruning paste. Enjoy getting out there and pruning on those gorgeous sunny Marlborough winter days
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AuthorJanine Mayson Archives
October 2026
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