You’ve basically got three big options for what to do with olives from a tree : cure them to eat as table olives, press them for oil (usually via a community press), or share/donate them if you have more than you can handle.

Quick Scoop

  • You can’t eat fresh olives straight off the tree; they are extremely bitter and must be cured first.
  • Easy at-home route: soak in water for 10–14 days (changing water daily), then store in a salty brine with herbs, garlic, and citrus.
  • If you have a big harvest, look for local “olives to oil” or community pressing programs to turn your olives into oil.
  • Extra or unwanted olives can often be donated to community preserving groups or swaps instead of going to waste.

Option 1 – Cure Them to Eat

Fresh olives need their bitterness leached out, then they’re stored in salt or brine with flavorings.

Simple water‑then‑brine method

  1. Sort and wash
    • Pick your olives, discard shriveled, damaged, or wormy fruit, and rinse well in cool water.
  1. Water soaking (remove bitterness)
    • Put olives in a bowl or bucket and cover completely with fresh cold water.
 * Change the water every day for 10–14 days; this gradually pulls out bitterness.

 * A bit of sliminess on the olives or an oily feel on the bowl is normal; just rinse and continue.
  1. Brining (preserve and finish curing)
    • Make a brine at about 10% salt (roughly 100 g non‑iodized rock/sea salt per liter of water).
 * Pack olives in clean jars, cover completely with cooled brine, then seal.

 * Leave them somewhere cool and dark for a few weeks to a couple of months until the bitterness has mellowed and the flavor is pleasantly salty and fruity.
  1. Flavoring and serving
    • Once they taste good, you can drain some, pat them dry, and marinate in olive oil with: garlic, lemon slices, herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano), or chili.
 * You can also warm them gently in flavored oil before serving for an extra-rich snack.

Salt or “dry” curing (especially for ripe black olives)

  • Slice or crack the olives, pack them in salt (alternating layers of salt and olives) and turn the container regularly.
  • When they’re wrinkled and no longer very bitter, brush off the salt and store them in olive oil; they keep very well and have a strong, intense flavor.

Option 2 – Turn Them into Oil

If you have a larger harvest, your olives might be suitable for pressing into oil.

  • Some cities run seasonal “olives to oil” festivals or community press events where you drop off your olives and pick up the oil a few weeks later.
  • This usually happens in late autumn when olives are at the right stage, and they often take mixed lots from many backyard trees.

Option 3 – Share, Donate, or Get Creative

If you’re overwhelmed by how many olives your tree produces:

  • Donate to community programs that collect backyard olives, cure them in bulk, and sell or distribute the jars to support local projects.
  • Trade or gift buckets of olives to neighbors, food‑preserving friends, or local gardening / homesteading groups; many people love experimenting with home‑cured olives.
  • Use olive leaves (separate from the fruit) for herbal infusions; some home preservers also experiment with them as a traditional remedy.

Tiny reality check

  • Don’t eat uncured olives; they’re not poisonous in normal quantities, but the bitterness is intense and unpleasant.
  • Always use clean containers, enough salt, and cool storage conditions; if olives smell off, go moldy on the surface, or develop odd colors or textures, discard them rather than risk it.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.