Historical Olive Grove

The Black Canyon site has a large olive grove of unknown origin that has burned numerous times in past wildfires. It has been neglected for decades and most olive stumps have grown into large bushes that need to be pruned back into a tree form. In addition to pruning, the soil has eroded in many parts of the grove and the trees are unable to produce fruit.

Some of the dead wood on the site indicates that when the primary trees were first killed by fire, they were over 100 years old. It is possible that these trees were planted as part of a secondary Mesa Grande Mission Chapel in the late 18th Century and abandoned after a destructive wildfire. Mission olivetTrees were brought to San Diego at this time and this large grove could be a remnant of Mission times before the secularization of California’s Missions in the 1830s. No one at the Santa Ysabel Mission knows the origin and we were told many records were lost in fires.

It is also possible the grove was planted in the late 19th century, after California statehood, when there was wide speculation in support of commercial olive oil production. Due to the grove’s remote location, another theory is that this grove was planted by homesteaders. The area of this historical grove also crosses modern property lines. We have not done any extensive title research and would love to work with a local university to research the genetics and origins of this historic grove.

Our primary goal with the olive grove will be to clean out the dead wood, prune the trees to a few primary shoots, and replenish the topsoil, mulch, apply compost extracts, and build earthworks to slow the water.