Heritage harvest

The fruit of Yolo County olive trees owned by UC Davis and planted nearly 150 years ago by one of Northern California's early pioneers is finding new customers.

John R. Wolfskill, who worked for $100 a year when he came to California in the 1830s, planted the trees in 1861. He could hardly have anticipated Wolfskill olive oil selling along with sweat shirts in the University of California, Davis bookstore.

But Wolfskill olive oil -- delicate, buttery with a hint of artichoke flavor -- is a hit. Wolfskill oil, $13 for about 8.5 ounces, sells out in a matter of a few weeks.

"It is our most popular olive oil, partly because of the history of the Wolfskill ranch," said UC Davis Olive Oil Manager Dan Flynn.

University and federal government researchers have used the 107-acre Wolfskill ranch for decades. In the 1940s, a research assistant grafted nearly 100 imported olive varieties to Wolfskill's Mission olive tree rootstock, creating what has been described as the most extensive olive collection in North America.

Shoots from Italy, Portugal, Egypt, South Africa, France, Morocco, Syria, Australia, Algeria, Greece and Spain were grafted onto Wolfskill trees.

So today, a bottle of Wolfskill olive oil is derived from the fruit from Mission trees and dozens of other international varieties grafted in 1946.

Sixty-year-old wood and metal tags hang from the trees, identifying varieties, such as Rubra and Meski. Some trees stand 35 feet tall with deeply furrowed trunks.

In 2006, Wolfskill olive oil received a gold medal from the Los Angeles County Fair, the largest olive oil competition in North America.

Wolfskill oil is not the only one bottled from trees that grow on the UC Davis campus.

Sal Genito, director of buildings and grounds at UC Davis, was summoned several years ago to an accident on the bike path that parallels Russell Boulevard on the north edge of campus.

In addition to the toppled bike rider, Genito noted the smell of something familiar: mashed olives that had fallen from trees bordering the bike path.

Flynn did a feasibility study and found it was cheaper to pick the fruit and make oil than settle slip-and-fall lawsuits, regularly sweep the fruit from sidewalks or spray to trees to stop fruiting.

A safety hazard became a teaching and fundraising tool using the fruit of about 1,000 olive trees on the campus proper, plus an additional 200 at the Wolfskill Experimental Orchard.

"First production in 2005 was about 80 gallons," said Flynn. "People loved it and it sold out right away. This year, maybe we can ramp it up to 600 gallons."

Wolfskill's daughter, Frances Wolfskill Wilson, who donated the land to the University of California in the 1930s, would probably be pleased.

In her will, she requested that trees at Wolfskill not be felled, but instead be maintained as a memorial to her parents and as a symbol of peace.

"I would hope that she would be proud," said Vito Polito, professor of plant sciences at UC Davis.

Polito said two major research efforts exist on the property, relating to improvement and development of genetic resources -- the gene pool -- for tree crops.

The Wolfskill olive trees line property lines and also the asphalt road that once led up to the 30-room Wolfskill mansion.

According to Flynn, Wolfskill, a native of Kentucky, arrived in Los Angeles in 1838. For a while, he labored in his brother William's vineyards and orchards.

Working for $100 a year, Wolfskill figured he might fare better with his own land. The Wolfskill Ranch near Winters was founded in 1841 thanks to a land grant from the Mexican government.

Flynn said Wolfskill made a big impact as a horticulturist. The Daily Alta California, after a visit to the Wolfskill ranch in 1861, reported:

"This is the oldest and most fruitful orchard in the county. ... Besides having all the best varieties of the more common kinds of fruit, he has in full bearing orange, nutmeg, Italian chestnut, pomegranate, fig, apricot, English walnut and olive trees. The immense income of the thousands of trees which this orchard contains is almost beyond belief."

In the late 1880s, the dean of the UC College of Agriculture observed Wolfskill olive trees provided "cuttings to start olive orchards all over the state."

Wolfskill died in 1897 at the age of 92.

UC Davis Olive Oil, along with Slow Food Yolo and the Yolo Agricultural Marketing Initiative, will celebrate the upcoming olive harvest with a walking tour and lunch under the Wolfskill trees on Oct. 13.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Bill Lindelof can be reached at (916) 321-1079 or blindelof@sacbee.com.