 Hops, An Up and Coming Crop in North Carolina
Right: A WNC grower
in his new hops yard
Can I grow olives commercially
in North Carolina?
Olives are a Mediterranean crop, and U.S.
production is mostly in California. The most
popular commercial varieties probably will
not thrive in our environment. However, there
are several individuals across the state who
have a few olive trees that seem to do very
well. They are located in the piedmont. So,
it's not that olives won't grow at all in North
Carolina, they probably just won't do well
enough to get the yields and quality to be
competitive with the big production areas.
If someone really wants to try growing some
olives, I would suggest researching all the
varieties that are available and ordering a
few of the ones that look like they have the
best chance of surviving in our area. These
might not be the highest yielding varieties,
but to start we just want them to survive and
produce olives. Most olives, even the hardiest,
will probably not make it through the winter
if it gets below 12 degrees F. But, if someone
could even get small yields from the trees,
there are niche market opportunities for them,
such as fresh market sales to upscale restaurants
and natural food stores who cater to the buy
local customer. And the grower could make value-added
products such as specialty packed olives and
boutique oils. Those could be sold, for example,
to local wineries for cross-mechanizing with
local wines.
To get more information on olives, go to:
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