Olives
Olives, wheat and grapes are the three important crops in Palestine. Olive trees flourished throughout Palestine in ancient times. Olives prefer a sandy, somewhat dry soil. They will thrive where many fruit trees cannot survive. A shoot from a cultivated olive tree may be planted, or olives may be grown from seed and grafted with fresh twigs from an older tree. Olive trees grow very slowly, requiring almost 30 years before they bear a full crop. However they reach an extremely old age. By constant pruning and grafting, their period of productivity can be extended almost indefinitely. In fact, the olive trees still growing in the garden of the Gethsemane in Jerusalem may have existed at the time of Christ.
Olive Oil
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