Temecula Olive Oil Ranch

Our guests of honor were Dr. Gordon Pratt and his wife Cecilia Lono Pierce.

Sierra Santa Margarita group acknowledges the great generosity of Dr. Pratt and Cecilia Lono Pierce supporting our organization.  We thank both of you.

Dr. Gordon Pratt did his undergraduate in Biology at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts and his Masters in Molecular Biology isolating mRNA from female blowflies at Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, Canada.  He later did his Ph.D. on the systematics of the dotted blues (Euphilotes) at the University of California at Riverside.  These butterflies potentially evolved in sympatry through food plant shifts onto buckwheat species with different bloom times.  From there he went to the University of Delaware to do a postdoc on sympatric speciation through host plant shifts in Enchenopa binotata (treehoppers).  In the mid-1990s Dr. Pratt returned to the University of California at Riverside and continued his research on butterflies and their food plants.  During his time at the University of California Dr. Pratt taught an extension course on butterfly ecology, studied insect and plant diversities on military installations, and endangered butterflies of southern California.  In 2013 Pratt retired from the University of California but still works on butterflies and their food plants of southern California.

Cecilia Lono Pierce, his wife, has helped collecting many of the seeds they have harvested from their garden.  She has contributed to maintaining their garden.  They also obtained the seeds for the plants they grow and sell from their garden.  Her contribution to their garden has reduced the workload for both of them.  Therefore; this has contributed to Dr. Pratt ability to invest more time in his other interests.  

They have authored papers together on the biology of specific butterflies. 

Sierra Club of Santa Margarita group and friends had a great afternoon on November 6^th; we had fun, adventure and lessons about how to grow olive trees and make olive oil. We met at the Temecula Olive Oil Company Ranch in Aguanga, California.  In addition to good time, we had live music, appetizers and good food, olive oil tasting and a raffle.  It was really a good opportunity to meet and socialize, and listen to a talented vocalist.

Thom Curry of Temecula Olive Oil Company was our tour guide.  We learned briefly how the ranch was created, the microclimate of the site, the type of olive trees, and the process of extracting olive oil from the fruits.  We also learned something about the facts and fictions about marketing of olive oil.

Who is Thom Curry?

He has a sense of humor about his business.  He said:

I grew up a “Navy Brat” moving around the country every couple of years, as far away from farming as possible. After attending college in San Diego, I ended up in the wine business for over 20 years. During that time I learned a bit about farming grapes and started a small winery. My wife and I became enamored with the culture and cultivation of olive trees and decided to dabble a bit. I became involved with the COOC Taste Panel and we started selling our first olive oil in the small winery tasting room. We have continued to grow from there.

About my Grove:

we have several groves all over Southern California, but our home ranch is the Olive View Ranch in the bustling metropolis of Aguanga, California. We have planted over 30 different varieties of olives on this beautiful 26 acre former cattle ranch. We operate two unique mills there and we offer tours and educational opportunities for the public.

What is my perfect day?

Every day is perfect in Southern California, but conducting a tour at the ranch in Aguanga is so much fun. Visiting some of our new plantings in the area to see the progress of trees that are being planted for the first time in California is rewarding. I like to nip in to one of our tasting rooms to see how much people really enjoy the fruits of our labors. No day is complete without family, my wife and girls are my life. Every day with them is perfect.

We are grateful to Pam Nelson for organizing the event and her preparation of foods and drink.  It was a great success. Thank you very much.  With gratitude to great entertainment by the talented vocalist Kelly Wilson; she is daughter of Pam Nelson. 

Acknowledgement:  Some of the pictures included in this post were captures by Scott Smith.  Thank you.