Nocellara del Belice (Castelveltrano) Olive Tree Availability?

I’d like to plant several Nocellara del Belice olive trees this fall, but boy oh boy, I am having a hard time finding them available to order. I have found one online source so far, but price is pretty expensive. Anyone know who is selling this particular olive tree? And that can ship to California (if they are not in California)? Thanks :slight_smile:

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Funny you should mention this variety. They are like butter! If you go to Costco they have some that are like home brined. In other words perfectly seasoned with no astringency.

Look for them in the refrigerated section by the name of: Madama Oliva Italian Olive Trio. Castelvetrano is one of the trio packs. Here’s a pic:

Yes, Clint, they are really delicious. I think they would grow really well in my yard, along with all my other unknown variety olives I have. So, hoping I can find a seller. Going to try calling a few nurseries that are open, tomorrow, then a few more on Monday. I have to go to Costco to pick up a few things, so I’ll grab a pack of these, they look excellent. My local Stater Bros. carries Castelvertranos in the deli section. Scarfing a few down while watching the USC/ND game. My boys in blue are struggling :frowning: :football:

Good luck! There are a few hits on Google. I have a daughter going to USC, so we’re rooting the other way. :smile:

I have exhausted all the Google hits, sadly. Nothing that will ship 2 or 3 trees (minimum count is 25 for some commercial growers). Nothing else looks promising. I have a couple of places I can call tomorrow and on Monday. I would think there would be an olive tree grower here in N. San Diego county, as we have a fair amount of commercial olive groves here. Many ex-citrus and ex-avocado commercial growers have switched to olive trees, due to the significant decrease in water requirements.

If I would have known how easy and BYOC friendly some olive trees are, and how easy and good home brined olives are, I would have planted more than two!

What a great variety! Well worth the search. Keep us posted.

Here’s a vendor out of South-Central Texas with 3 gallon (qty of 1) Nocellara del Belice for sale: http://www.txovsupply.com/olive-trees-planting.html

Sadly, this variety gets too big for my purposes. I may plant a Koroneiki come bare root season. DWN offers cheap little olive trees at most of the independent nurseries here locally. The selections are limited to what they show on their website.

Thanks, Clint. I’ll definitely check it out.

http://www.oregonolivetrees.com/index_files/NocellaradelBelice.htm - may not start sales until March (they close for the winter at some point). But they do answer emails…nice people too (David and Carmen Lawrence).

Assuming olives are not banned by your city or county due to pollen.

Keep in mind Castelveltrano is a style of olive that typically uses Nocellara del Belice cultivar. Pollinator required. Pendolino is a recommended pollinator for Nocellara del Belice.

Castelveltrano olives are lactic acid fermented which gives them their nutty flavor, not the cultivar. I suspect other olive cultivars would work as well, but not be as nice and meaty as Nocellara del Belice.

Yup, all that, Powell. Oregon Olive Trees are not shipping any longer this season. I had a very nice chat with them, you’re right, very lovely folks. And, not sure they ship. They gave me another S. Calif. suggestion, which I called, but the nursery never called me back. So, I opted for the Tx grower, and was successful in obtaining 2 Nocellara and 1 Pendolino (as a cross pollinator, and a nice olive on its own merits). They are not big, but olive trees grow like weeds here in my climate. I have 20 or 30 of them on my property, some are producing olives, some are non-fruiting varieties, and they love it here.

Castelveltrano IS Nocellara del Belice :slight_smile: Castelveltrano is the commercial name of the olive that is marketed from the Nocellar del Belice olive tree. Figured that out right away. They can be lye treated, water treated, or salt brined. Or sun dried, all depending upon whether they’re picked ripe or green. Green olives need to be lye-cured to remove the bitterness. I don’t think you mean lactic acid treated? (never heard of that). Maybe you are thinking about the sugars in the olives being converted into lactic acid during the curing process? I’ve read both of these links, this particular olive is developing a cult following out there in the gastropub and slow food industry. At least, out here where I live. Thanks for sharing the links :slight_smile:

How are your Nocellara de Belice olive trees doing?? I’m in Orange County and would love to try growing them.

Can you refer me to where you were able to purchase them?

Thank you!

They’re doing very well, Lucius. In fact, the Pendolino I also purchased as a cross pollinator (really didn’t need to do that, as I have about 30 other olive trees on the property) has a few olives already. But of course, olives grow like weeds here, and the climate for the NdB is almost totally identical to my particular climate and elevation. I think you’ll also probably have success with NdB as well, as your climate in OC is very close to mine, no doubt.

I purchased them from Charta Olive Farms: http://www.chartaolives.com/. Part of their retail part of their website is not working, so you may need to call them, directly, to order. When I bought them, I spoke directly to the owner. He told me he only had a few NdB left, and they were kind of scrawny. They actually didn’t look bad when I received them, so I imagine their “nice” trees will be very nice.

Patty S.

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Thanks for the quick reply Patty! Glad to hear they are doing well. Haven’t planted any olive trees yet, this will be my first.

I’ve been mostly into tropicals. Got the gardening bug a couple years back and it’s just become an obsession!

I’ll call charta and see if I could a hold of some NcB

Lucius, be sure to get a cross pollinator as well, unless there are producing olive trees in the nearby area. Otherwise, your fruit set may be minimal. Pendolino is the recommended cross pollinator. As it happens, it is a very, very lovely specimen tree, as it develops a very beautiful weeping habit, and its olives actually are quite good as well. IT is mainly used for pressing into oil, but they can also be cured/brined for eating. It is sort of the “go to” cross pollinator olive cultivar.

Patty S.

Sounds good! Thanks for the advice patty.

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Hi. I’m new to this forum and was excited to see a discussion about Castelvetrano. I grew up on the Mediterranean sea and my dad used to buy this type of olives for us to eat at home.

Now I’m trying to find few trees to plant and it seems impossible ti find them. I did notice Wholefoods carry them so I guess they are popular. Any advise on where to buy such trees.

thanks

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Welcome @Bassel, fourwindsgrowers has the premium size in stock apparently.

Hi there! Late response but wondering if u ever found an olive tree that could be shipped to CA? Thanks:)

I got mine from one green world in Oregon. Nocellara Del Belice - Castelvetrano Olive Tree - One Green World