MINDING THEIR BUSINESS

El Camino Olive Trail

The South Texas &
Northern Mexico Olive Growers

El Camino Olive Trail Film

August 7, 2011 PBS station KEDT Channel 16 Corpus Christi and the Texas Olive Oil Council celebrate the burgeoning Olive Oil industry in South Texas, and the growers who make it, in a new documentary film called El Camino Olive Trail. www.elcaminoolivetrail.com

El Camino Olive Trail is a film about people of vision and passion. Pioneers in a land of sun, drought and sometimes broken dreams just across the US | Mexico borderline along a historic route where Spanish priests established Missions and planted trees. It is a place where a liquid gold that has illuminated history is planted, picked and pressed. El Camino Olive Trail tells the story of an endless source of wonder, the fountain of wealth and power, and one of the world’s greatest commodities; Olive Oil. The Film is about people who persevere against the odds, who driven by a romantic notion seek to revive this magic land along the fabled El Camino Real.

Harvesting Olives in South Texas

Although the first olive trees in Texas were brought in by the Jesuits to the Missions in Texas, olive trees were again brought to South Texas 100 years ago by Texas pioneer icon Asher Richardson, who planted them at his Bel-Asher mansion in Asherton in 1914. Those trees survive to this day and were the inspiration for Texas olive guru Jim Henry to plant 40,000 trees at Asher’s original farm, now called the Texas Olive Ranch. The Bel-Asher and Texas Olive Ranch oils both won awards at the recent Texas vs. The World Olive Oil Competition in Austin, along with Texas growers Jewett Farms from Moulton, Texas and Val Verde Orchard from Del Rio. The 2nd oldest olive trees in Texas were planted in 1942 and are located in Corpus Christi on the Gulf Coast, a great place for growing olives. The Film takes a decidedly South Texas turn on the Olive Trail with a visit to Cotulla, Texas to see delicious South Texas Wild Hog barbequed with Texas olive oil by Chris Meyer, whose prowess as a chef and recipes are featured in the El Camino Olive Trail film.

El Camino Olive Trail also feature artisan growers from Rancho La Espiga in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, along with big, up and coming commercial producer Rancho De La Cruz, located in a pristine and lush valley in the beautiful state of Coahuila, Mexico. Good things are happening in Mexico.

The South Texas & Northern Mexico Olive Growers ›