David WE Roberts writes

What surprised me (although I guess it shouldn't have) is how thirsty
the trees are when bearing fruit.

I've been in caves in Greece with roots coming through a long way from
the surface. I've come to the conclusion a lot of the plants that cope
with dry habitats do so at least in part by producing roots long enough
to get at deeply buried water.


Previous years ours have been tiny but have turned black eventually. I
am now in a quandry - should I harvest them soon as green olives or
should I wait until they turn black and risk losing the crop to birds,
frost, gales etc. later on this autumn?

Doesn't that depend in part as to whether you prefer green or black
olives?

I may be wrong, but I have a memory that black olives require more
complicated processing than green.
--
Kay