Most olives are treated with chemicals to keep the worms out, but these ones were picked from a friend's garden and are 100% organic. What this means is that around half of them will have little worms in. Had I caught them earlier in the season and harvested multiple times as they ripened, this would not have been the case.
After removing all the ones with holes in (this means worms) I added them to a salt water brine (1.5 cups sea salt to 10 gallons water), I weighed them down with something to keep them under the water and I tied them off to the air at the top with sellotape & plastic as I don't have lids to these particular jars.
For your information, half the olives I sliced with a knife (one single cut) and the other half I left as they were. The sliced ones will cure faster and will be ready in time for Christmas.
All I will be doing over the next four weeks is cleaning them with fresh water periodically and adding them back into new brine.
Three times in the first week and then once a week after that.
Between 3-5 weeks the colour & the bitterness fade from the olives. When the desired taste is achieved they are added to smaller pots with lemon, herbs, garlic... whatever you choose.
Finally I will seal them off in a light brine (1/3 cup salt with 2 litres water) making sure the brine is hot when added (55 - 65°C). A layer of olive oil at the top and the lids are closed.
They need to sit in these jars for at least two weeks before eating, to take on the flavours of the herbs.
Those last two images are from the guy on YouTube whose instructions I am following here.
Hey, perhaps @trucklife-family might have some wisdom to offer on this subject?
We are on the outskirts of olive land here in the Pyrenees, but further south in Spain & Portugal they are much more abundant.
That being said, our village is full of olive trees! And just as it is with all of the fruits, nuts & berries which grow around us here, no one picks them except me.
Makes me wonder... are olives categorised as fruit?
Or something else?
Love & Light everyone 🌱