Dry Creek Olive Company’s Community Milling days are an ideal way for the small olive grower to produce homegrown olive oil and celebrate the joys of harvest time. Come on out and enjoy the “fruit” of your labor! We have found that some of our most flavorful oils are produced on Community Milling days. The “field blending” created by combining neighbors’ olives produces amazing extra virgin oil!

As the grapes near harvest, our thoughts turn to Olive Milling season. Whether the harvest season will start early, be late or just as expected remains to be seen. Warmer weather in late August, September and early October may speed up the ripening of the olive harvest. Watch mother nature in the weeks approaching the olive harvest season to select a date that fits best for you.

Dates for Community Milling for the 2024 Harvest season are October 27, November 10, November 24 and December 8 from 9am to 2pm.  

Here is how it works: Olives are delivered by customers on Community Milling day and are combined and milled together into an extra virgin olive oil. The percentage of the total weight you contribute directly corresponds to the percentage of oil you receive once the olives are milled.

We accept amounts from 5 lbs. to 2000 lbs. (1 ton) at a rate of $1.00/lb. There are no additional waste removal fees for Community Milling – the pomace is on us! In addition, we will offer the following price discounts by weights:

• 801 lbs. to 1000 lbs. 15% discount
• 1000 lbs. to 1400 lbs. 20% discount
• 1400 lbs. to 1 ton (2,000 lbs.) 25% discount

We recommend that you pick your olives the day before the date you are bringing your olives in for milling. Ideal storage containers include plastic 5-gallon buckets (which hold about 25 lbs), clean trash cans, and macro-bins. Please do not store your olives in plastic garbage bags as they tend to rot more quickly. To help ensure the quality of your olives, we recommend picking them within 24 hours of milling and storing them in a cool, well-ventilated place. When your olives are delivered, they are inspected and are to be free of olive fly, rot, fungus or excessive bruising or damage. We reserve the right to refuse olives that have more than 10% olive fly damage, or if we deem them too defective to mill. You will need to take your olives with you if they are refused; we will not be able to dispose of defective fruit.

Over the past 10 years, the Olive Fly has made its way throughout California with a vengeance. It causes damage by laying its eggs in healthy olives. The larvae then hatch and eat the fruit, making the olives unsuitable for olive oil. One evidence of their presence is shown by “exit holes” in the fruit, or even active larvae or flies crawling on the fruit. If you have any evidence of the Olive Fruit Fly, you must pick all your olives and dispose of them properly by burying them or composting them.  Olive fly is now a permanent issue in California, so please take care!

For more information on the Olive Fruit Fly please see the link below or consult your County Agricultural Adviser or research the internet for information.

 http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r583301311.html

Plastic, food-grade containers to hold your finished oil are supplied at a nominal price. If you wish to bring your own container, we will only accept clean and dry, labeled, food-grade plastic containers (no used milk/juice containers) at the time of olive drop-off for oil collection. We want you to be completely satisfied with your olive oil and we cannot guarantee the level of cleanliness of non-food-grade containers brought in from the outside. Each person will receive the amount of oil equivalent to the percentage of weight of olives they brought in. For example, if your olives represent 10% of the total weight of the olives collected that day, you will receive 10% of the oil produced. When portioning the oil, we do it by weight and round to the nearest ounce.

Past years have had yields ranging from 55lbs to 85lbs per gallon of oil. However, every season and batch will be different. Therefore, we cannot guarantee a certain percentage yield.

All Community Milling customers and Club member patrons of our Tasting Room are welcome to join us on these days (with or without olives) as we celebrate the harvest.

If you have further questions, please contact us at (707) 431.7200 ext. 701 or email us at [email protected].

We look forward to seeing you!