Olive trees are gnarled and twisted, and often kept small to facilitate harvesting on the ground. The trees can live for hundreds of years but, depending on the variety, they don’t start to bear fruit until they are 3 to 12 years old. Yield depends on a tree’s size, age, variety, and growing conditions. Mature trees which have not been pruned can reach 40-60 feet in height and produce up to 800 kilos of olives while others only produce 50. Read more about olives and olive farming 100 years ago and today in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).
