How cool, tho!
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Assuming it makes it to maturity, what can one do with a single olive? 
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In my neck of the woods, brag about it!!
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???
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thatâs the spirit!
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It may require brining to be edible? Then chop it up to share with your fam!
Set up a well-stocked bird feed spot near-ish to help misdirect the potential marauders?
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yeah, i was going to say that birds will eat 'em up.
there was a Russian olive tree outside my condo in Mesa, AZ. the olives were extremely bitter and not rrally edible, but, the big fat dove ate them up as they fell.
messiest goddamn tree, i tell you what! turns out i was horribly allergic to the pollen and ended up fighting bronchitis every spring when it bloomed.
damn russkies!
i like ypur idea. brine it and make a tiny tapenade to put on tiny toasts with a dab of chevre. call it hors dâvoirs.
fancy!
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In that case, old pantyhose could be cut up and zip-tied around the fruit to help discourage the birbs. In a few more years, say, up to 7 or so, there should be enough fruit that @wayward can get some, too. This is how it worked out with our cherry trees - 8 years from planting to first harvest that critters couldnât pick clean before fully ripe. 
Two trees yield about 15-20 pounds each at full fruit maturity. Every other year we make a big batch of jam with the strawberries.
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The only two completely impractical physical approaches in my mind right now:
mow tightly (like, nearly scalping the grass) under your grapes, then dust with DEâpick a dry week if possible;
get a wet-dry shopvac with a long cord to power, fill it about 3" deep with soapy water (use Dr. Bronners [plain or tea tree oil or citrus or peppermint] if you intend to pour the contentsâaged for a few hours to make sure all the bugs in the canister are deadâinto your compost pile), and vacuum off the offenders, thoroughly, not missing the undersides and nodes of each leaf, using a brush attachment so as not to bruise the plantsâ parts; and then
use a fine mesh barrier thusly:
This is going to seem very heavy-handed cost-wise, time-wise, etc.
But.
I think this would probably work, especially for the larger nymph stages of lanternfly.
I know itâs a lot of work.
You need interns! And research grant money! And more interns!
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peppers are really starting to come in.
picked 350g green habaneros. going with the green ones again because last yearâs green habanero sauce was really flavorful. also picked the first âmystery chiliâ. mum had a packet of unlabeled pepper seeds and planted some. no idea the variety, but this sucker measures 23cm long! not a cayenne, banana, cubanelle, or any pepper i have ever grown. not even sure if it is hot, but weâll find out soon.
meanwhile, a stoopid chicken broke one of my plum tomato vines, trying to perch on the tomato cage supporting it. and yâall wonder why i say i am at war with these dumb clucks!
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Well, this canât be goodâŚ
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All olives are full of bitter compounds (afaik), when youâd get fresh olives in Italy, youâd drop them in a bath of fresh water, a little bit tilted, and have a small trickle of fresh water going in, to keep the water around the olives fresh⌠needed at minimum 24 hrs, usually more, and even then they were still intensely bitter (they go really nicely with cauliflower and garlic though).
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We have an allotment! Well, half a plot which is still a lot. But we got first pick, so we have inherited a greenhouse and 2 beds of well established raspberry canes. It is the wrong time absolutely to start anything from scratch, but people have been v. helpful, and so, we have several tomato plants of varying maturities, some leeks, 3 strawberry plants I got on sale at the supermarket and one solitary broccoli. And I planted 2 rows of potatoes on Thursday.
It has made me so happy to have some outside space, even if it needs fighting with to get it shipshape.
I will post some pics of progress as we slowly thrash nature into submission.
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Ok, reporting results from a couple of experiments. The neem oil spray definitely knocked back the lantern fly numbers significantly. I had to search to find them today. Will probably have to plan on weekly spraying for now. Encouraging, i guess. Next, my pink oyster mushrooms were starting to slow down after their first flush, and i noticed the chips were getting a bit dry. Hmmm, says i, letâs water yhem a bit. And then, says i again, letâs have a little fun! Mixed up a little dilute MiracleGro fertilizer and soaked down a couple buckets, using a couple others for controls. And,
Also experimenting with taking some of the chips from near-spent buckets to start new ones. Too soon to tell if that will work. If so, it would be nice. The grain spawn is expensive!
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Thatâs great to hear, and even better its a general pest deterrent/killer so regular spraying should be beneficial.
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Pretty!
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Just harvested the Broad Beans (US-Fava?).
Planted last November.
Aquadulce Claudia (overwintering species).
Gonna let them dry, rather than freeze them.
Apparently a very old method. They last pretty much forever dried, and when ready to eat, soak for 24hrs before cooking.
Havenât tried it yet but, hey, if it works for lentilsâŚ
Also, free photo of a dogâs bum:
(His nose-end was parked in the cooler part of the shed).
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