permaculture

[Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>]

Gene,
I think the olive tree screensaver will have to suffice as olives will not 
grow in E
TN. IF you WERE able to grow them there you WOULD be able to grow them from 
cuttings (
which I did successfully in Sonoma Co. Ca.) The seeds used to germinate quite 
readily
beneath the parent trees in my client's landscapes, so maybe if you can find 
a nice
greenhouse, you can still have your wish come true. They can bear heavily on 
fairly
small trees and can handle hard (30%) pruning. I don't know if you could  
bend them
over ( like figs) and mulch them heavily and still have them survive, but, 
hey, try it.
It might work. To order olives, check out Cornucopia: A Sourcebook of Edible 
Plants,
($45 from Permaculture Activist.)
Good luck,
Keith Johnson

EFMonaco wrote:

> My daughter brought back some black olives she picked from a tree in Spain,
> along with some soil.  Having a long mediterranean love affair with olives,
> I was wondering if anyone knows anything about them, such as:
> How to propagate them?  Can I get the olives to sprout? or should I just
> mail order a cutting from somewhere?  (and where?).
> Can they live in E. Tennessee year round outside?  And how long does it
> really take to get olives from them?  Am I wasting my time?  Should I just
> get an olive tree screen saver?
> Gene Monaco