Kitehawk Journal
These are some notes about what Charles and Denise Schryver have been doing.
We have separate list of events.
2019 Harvest
These bins of olives are some of our 2019 harvest.
Zipzicle
Our friend and her son, creators of
Zipzicles,
have a
recipe
for preserving fresh herbs
in our
olive oil.
Jedi, their Belgian Tervuren, approves.
2014 Paso Robles Olive Festival
For the second year in a row, we won a
gold medal
at the
2014 Paso Robles Olive
Oil Festival.
Our
organic extra virgin olive oil was judged best by a panel of 9
critics among 20 entries in the Spanish division.
Castile Soap
After using our organic olive oil on my face and body
for the past 2 years, I decided to try making soap.
I make the soap in small batches, using organic essential
oils for fragrance. The results have exceeded my expectations!
This soap is silky, smooth and feels luxurious on my skin.
The scents are light and natural, not overpowering or heavy.
Try it, I think you will like it as much as we do!
Napa County Fair
Kitehawk received
three Gold Medals
at the 2011 Napa County Fair.
Yolo County Fair
Kitehawk received a
Gold Medal
in the organic Arbequina
division at the
2011 Yolo County Fair
for a second year in a row.
3/4/11 Tree Pruning
This is olive tree pruning time and I have been pruning for the
last 4 weekends.
Judging by the amount I need to prune, I must have
been negligent last year.
After noting that the pickers last
November had trouble getting to those olives I am concentrating
on removing lower branches.
Before
After
I was advised to prune all trees up to the 2 foot level, but thought
it better to leave as many branches on the trunk as possible to
maximize olive bearing.
I am also removing large branches that are
trying to grow bigger than the main trunk.
Arbequina olive trees
are really bushes pruned to a single leader, so they have a
tendency to focus their growth on a branch instead of a single top.
I will come
back later to top the taller trees,
because pickers cannot pick much
higher than they can reach.
I will also cut water sprouts.
The trees are too young to prune for olive bearing issues.
Olives only form on second year branches, and so olives form this year only
on growth that was new last year.