Morgantina is an ancient Greek city her on the island of Sicily. It was taken over by the Romans in 211 BC. Substantial ruins remain and we toured them the other day. In the parking lot, the major patch of shade on this extremely hot day was provided by this olive tree.
Olives are everywhere on the island, from front yards to back gardens to large fields covering the hillsides.Our cousin, Serafino, says that even his small collection of olive trees yielded a substantial amount of olive oil for his own personal use.
There is something so appealing in growing something that you can use throughout the rest of the year and share with friends. Olives seem to grow well in Southern California, too, so perhaps this might be a tree to add to the garden when I have to remove the pine trees that are infected by beetle. Hmmm, always a possibility.