In March of 2018 I planted my Mission Olive tree. It was about 2 feet tall at the time. Today it stands at over 6 feet tall.

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And I have my first olive!

I can’t pick this olive and eat it straight off the tree, as raw olives are very bitter. But don’t worry, I have every intention of picking and brining this single olive so I can eat it. 🙂

There is clearly one olive on the tree. I’m not sure what the other small balls are by the olive. I’m guessing they are olives that did not (and will not) size up properly. But, again, I’m not sure so I’m going to keep my eye on them and hopefully learn a little something in the process.

The tree has proved to be incredibly low maintenance. I only water it in the driest of summer droughts, and even then, not that much. The tree is leaning northward so I put a bamboo stake south of it, braced the stake with a brick, and tied the tree to the stake to encourage it to correct itself. I’ve been regularly extending the mulched area around the tree to make sure it reaches out to the drip line. I’ve also planted oregano at the drip line as I’d love for it to be a ground cover underneath the olive tree. And that’s really all I’ve done for it.

This is the first tree I have ever planted and I’m so excited that it’s doing well. I can’t wait to see what the tree will look like next year and what kind of fruit set I will get.