Olive your snacks

As if it wasn’t obvious that we’re a Mediterranean climate, olives grow abundantly in Northern California. In the Central Valley, they litter sidewalks and campuses with their oily emanations. Instead of cursing them, pick up some fresh olives and try curing them yourself. You can brine them in salt water or leach out the bitterness using regular changes of fresh water. Olives must cure and ferment before they resemble the fruits you plop in a martini or nibble with cheese. Eat them raw at your own peril—they’re extremely bitter right off the tree.