So How Are We Saving Water at IL Fiorello!
The drought is full on and everyone is making concerted efforts to save water. We are very lucky at IL Fiorello because the founding fathers of Solano County developed Lake Berryessa. We have some water, precious but present. We have water available from April through October, but from October to April we have no supply […]
Growers Meeting
IL Fiorello Olive Oil Co sponsored a growers meeting on Saturday June 28, 2105 we were joined by Marvin Martin, of MarvinMartin Olive Oils and a professional olive grower and master taster from Napa and Tom Turpen, Plant Biologist, from Davis, CA. The days discussion centered about olive fly in California and in Italy. We […]
Spectacular, Sustainable Seafood
We had an amazing cooking class on seafood, taught by Chef Marvin Martin. Beautiful fish, beautiful presentations. Everyone just delighted in learning how to choose fish and what great things can come from some simple but elegant preparations. Chef Martin uses Osprey Seafood, a purveyor in Napa. They pride themselves on quality and sustainability. Line-caught […]
The Flavors and Aromas of Summer
In my past blogs I have been talking about olive growing, oils, birds and bees. It is time to think of the wonderful flavor aromas of summer. Think fresh cut grass, peaches, roses, orange blossoms, and tomatoes on the vine. The flavors of nature, open fields, grass and fresh blossoms. Humans respond to aromas. Ask […]
Culture and History
Athena’s Blend Gold Medal Award Winning Olive Oil We named the best oil of this year Athena’s Blend. It received a Gold Medal at the prestigious New York International Olive Oil Competition, and was named as one of the best olive oils in the world. Athena’s Blend, grown by our Chef Marvin Martin, and milled […]
Blog Sustainability Part 2
What we do with and for the land at IL Fiorello We compost on site and that includes all the olive tree pruning, the material other than oil after milling olives, kitchen byproducts, and manure from local horse farms. The mass is composted all year long and then put on the Grove just after harvest […]
Sustainability Blog Part 1
Il Fiorello is working hard to be sustainable. We believe that good stewardship of our land and our trees is very important. Although we have just submitted paperwork for the formal organic license, we have been growing organically and sustainably for the past four years. Our Mill has been certified to mill organic olives for […]
Olive Oil Production By-Product for Food
Potential Use of Olive Oil Waste for Novel Food Product Development Dr. Y. Olive Li College of Agriculture at Cal Poly Pomona Authors: Ann Sievers Owner IL Fiorello Olive Oil Co and Dr. Y. Olive Li College of Agriculture at Cal Poly Pomona Did you know that 35 lbs. to 40 lbs. of olives (depending […]
What’s the Buzz at Il Fiorello!
QUEEN BEES AT IL Fiorello Rick Schubert of Bee Happy Apiaries and Ms. Brittany Dye, Ms. Queen Bee, have honored us with Queens. We should all be wearing crowns in honor of our most royal guests. We have 1144 queens in 286 nuc boxes, meaning the Queens are in their own boxes four to a […]
TO PRUNE OR NOT TO PRUNE OR HOW TO PRUNE
Pruning olive trees is an art, an acquired and learned art. Each and every person who prunes trees has their own best way, and of course it works for them. Consult an expert to help you get started or have them prune your whole grove with you. But here is some basic guidance on pruning. […]