Homegrown Olive Oil

OLIVE TREES LINE CITY STREETS in Arizona. They thrive in yards and cast scant shade in parking lots. In spring they bloom profusely, and in fall they drop ripe fruit onto cars and sidewalks and into gutters. Olive trees are so common that most Arizonans hardly notice them, except in April when pollen causes allergies to flare up. Because olives are so easy to grow in Arizona, you’d think the place would be packed with olive farmers. Instead, “It’s me and three guys in Yuma,” says Perry Rea.

Husband-and-wife team Perry and Brenda Rea are the founders and operators of Arizona’s only working olive farm and mill, the Queen Creek Olive Mill (). Over 20 years, they’ve grown a small family business into a 100-plus-employee operation. Their 100-acre farm lies in the Queen Creek valley about 40 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix, flanked by the San Tan Mountains to the southwest and the Superstition Mountains to the northeast. Empty creeks and washes wind their way through the wide, flat valley, where the sun shines 330 days a year. On the days it doesn’t shine, the skies bless the valley with about 9 precious