Knowing when to pick olives is the single most important decision you’ll make for flavor. It determines whether your oil is grassy and peppery or buttery and mild, and whether your table olives have the perfect balance of bitterness and fruit. This guide will walk you through the clear signs, from color to touch, so you can harvest your crop at its absolute peak.
Timing is everything. Picking too early gives you very little oil and intense bitterness. Picking too late can lead to oily that is flat and rancid-tasting. Your goal is to catch the olive at the precise moment its internal chemistry is perfect for your intended use.
When To Pick Olives5 – For Optimal Flavor
This main heading isn’t a mistake—it emphasizes that flavor is your target. Achieving optimal flavor is a blend of art, science, and observation. It goes beyond just the calendar date and requires you to engage all your senses.
The Core Principle: Ripeness Stages & Flavor Profiles
Olives don’t ripen all at once on a tree, or even on a single branch. They move through distinct stages, each offering a different taste.
- Green Stage (Veraison): Olives are fully sized but still hard and green. Oil content is low, but compounds that create bold, grassy, peppery, and sometimes bitter flavors are high. Perfect for those who love a robust, pungent extra virgin olive oil with a strong “bite” at the back of the throat.
- Turning Color (Veraison to Full Black): This is the “blush” stage. The olive begins to soften and changes from green to straw-yellow, then to reddish-purple, and finally to black. Oil content rises sharply, and flavors become more complex and fruity, with less bitterness. This stage is ideal for a well-balanced, versatile oil.
- Full Black (Mature): The olive is dark black and soft to the touch. Oil yield is at its maximum, but the intense fresh fruit flavors begin to decline. Oils from fully black olives are often milder, buttery, and smooth, with almost no bitterness. They are also more susceptible to oxidation and spoilage, so process them quickly.
Your At-a-Glance Harvest Checklist
Use this simple list to assess your crop each week as the season approaches.
- Color Change: Are most berries on the tree showing some color change? 60-70% is a good benchmark for a mixed-flavor oil.
- Firmness: Gently squeeze a few olives. Do they yield slightly under pressure, or are they rock hard?
- Drop Test: Are a few healthy olives beginning to fall naturally? This is a natures signal.
- Stem Detachment: When you gently twist a berry, does it come off the stem with little resistance?
- Seed Color: Cut an olive open. Is the pit (seed) turned from white to a light brown or beige color?
How to Perform the “Cut Test”
This is your best internal diagnostic tool.
- Pick a few sample olives from different parts of the tree (sunny side and shady side).
- Use a sharp knife to cut each one in half lenghtwise.
- Examine the flesh. It should be a creamy, opaque white, not green.
- Check the pit. A fully white pit means it’s very early. A dark brown pit means it’s very late. You want a light brown pit.
- Smell it. The flesh should have a fresh, fruity aroma, not a musty one.
Step-by-Step: Planning Your Harvest Week
Don’t just wake up and decide to pick. A little planning protects your flavor.
- Determine Your Goal: Decide first. Do you want a bold, green oil or a mild, buttery one? Your answer dictates your timing.
- Start Monitoring Early: Begin checking olives 6-8 weeks after they full size in late summer. Look for that first hint of color change.
- Test Weekly: Once color starts, visit your trees weekly. Perform the cut test on 5-6 olives each time.
- Watch the Weather: A forecast for intense heat can over-ripen olives quickly. A forecast for heavy rain can cause mold and dilute flavor. Plan to pick before bad weather.
- Gather Supplies: Have your harvesting nets, buckets, and ladders ready. Olives should be processed within 24-48 hours of picking for best quality.
Common Mistakes That Ruin Flavor
Avoid these pitfalls to protect your hard work.
- Picking by Calendar Date Alone: The “third week of October” is a rough guide. Your microclimate and tree health matter more.
- Harvesting All Olives at Once: If you have many trees, prioritize. Pick the earliest-ripening varieties or sunniest trees first.
- Using Dirty Containers: Never use containers that held chemicals or fuel. Residues will taint the oil’s flavor. Food-grade buckets are best.
- Letting Olives Sit: Piles of olives in a hot garage ferment and sour quickly. This creates off-flavors described as “fusty” or “winey.”
- Damaging the Fruit: Be gentle. Bruising and broken skin starts decay, which harms the final taste of your product.
For Table Olives vs. Olive Oil
The “optimal flavor” target shifts slightly depending on your end product.
For Olive Oil: You have more flexibility. A mix of green, turning, and black olives (like 60/40) creates a wonderfully complex oil. For a very intense oil, pick earlier. For a mild oil, pick later. Just remember, greener olives mean lower yield but stronger taste.
For Table Olives: Timing is often more specific to the curing recipe. Most green curing methods (like Spanish-style) require olives picked in the mature green stage, just as they begin to change color. They should be firm. For oil-blackened or dry-cured olives, you can let them ripen further on the tree. Always follow your chosen recipe’s advice for picking stage.
FAQ: Your Quick Questions Answered
Q: What month are olives usually ready?
A: In the Northern Hemisphere, harvest typically runs from late September through early February. Early harvest (Sept-Oct) is for greener oil; late harvest (Nov-Feb) is for milder oil. It varies hugely by region and weather.
Q: Can you pick olives when they are green?
A: Absolutely. Picking green olives is essential for certain robust oil flavors and for many styles of table olives, like the ones you see in martinis.
Q: How do you know when black olives are ready?
A> A ripe black olive will be dark all the way to the pit (check with a cut test), will feel slightly soft but not mushy, and will detach easily with a gentle twist. The skin should be shiny and tight.
Q: What happens if you pick olives too early?
A> You’ll get a very low yield of oil, and the oil will be extremely pungent, bitter, and grassy. For table olives, they may be too hard to cure properly and unbearably bitter.
Q: What happens if you pick olives too late?
A> Overripe olives produce oil that is flat, sweet, and lacks character. It is also more prone to rancidity. The fruit can become bruised and fermented on the tree, leading to defective flavors.
Q: Do olives continue to ripen after picking?
A: No. Unlike some fruits, olives do not improve after harvest. They only begin to decay. The flavor is locked in at the moment you pick them, so timing is critical.
Final Tips for the Best Taste
Keep a simple garden journal. Note the date you first see color, the date you pick, and the resulting flavor each year. This historical record is invaluable. It helps you learn your specific trees’ patterns.
Remember, the pursuit of optimal flavor is a journey. Your preference is the ultimate guide. This year, try picking a batch early and another batch late. Process them separately and taste the dramatic difference. This experience will teach you more than any article ever could. Trust your senses, and you’ll be rewarded with the incredible taste of perfectly timed, home-harvested olives.