Hi Rexanne,

California is one of the few places in the USA to have olive trees - the University of California cooperative extension, Sacramento County has a booklet for sale that explains the process for preserving olives.

Check out the following URL. There are two publications for purchase re olives:

ABC’s of Home-Cured Green-Ripe Olives

Home Pickling of Olives

I have made lye-cured olives - it's a lengthy process and it does require attention to detail and patience.

Hope this information is helpful.