Florida, not California, not Italy or Spain or Greece! We are growing olives in Santa Rosa County Florida. We had a modest harvest in August of 2024. Olive picking season is usually August & September. We mill the fruit within minutes of harvest. 

Did you know that olive production in America began in Pensacola. Don Tristan De Luna’s settlement was destroyed by a hurricane in the 16th Century. The Spanish ships were laden with olives a staple of the Spanish diet when the ships were destroyed some of the olives made it to shore, sprouted and bore fruit.
– From the University of West Florida Department of Archeology.

Blackwater Olive Grove farm land has been in the Thomas family since the early 1940’s. Grover Thomas sent money home from his Merchant Marine service to make the down-payment. Charles Thomas (Grover’s father) farmed it until his death in the 1980’s. Mike Thomas learned how to drive on this land at age 9. “My Uncle Ray would set me behind the steering wheel, pull-out the choke to keep the engine from stalling (I could not reach the gas pedal) then he’d climb out of the cab into the truck bed and as I zig-zagged around the field he would toss hay to my grandfathers milk cows… (read more)

Fun Links:
International Olive Council

Fake Olive Oil