Olive Firewood

I'll be honest. The first time someone offered me a truckload of olive wood from an old orchard removal, I almost said no. Seemed too pretty to burn. Glad I changed my mind, because olive is one of the best firewoods I've ever put in a stove. At 26.7 million BTU per cord, it throws serious heat.

For context, olive sits right alongside the top-tier hardwoods on most BTU charts. A dry cord weighs about 4,205 lbs, that's dense, heavy wood packing a lot of energy. Toss a few splits in your firebox and the heat is immediate and sustained. Load it up before bed and you'll have a solid coal bed in the morning, perfect for overnight burns.

Here's the catch though: splitting olive is a pain. The grain twists and interlocks in ways that'll make your hydraulic splitter earn its keep. Seriously, don't try to hand-split big rounds unless you enjoy frustration. The good news is it burns clean with low smoke and few sparks, so once it's split and stacked, the hard part is over.

Olive needs 18 to 24 months to season properly. It's dense wood that holds moisture stubbornly, so don't rush it. A moisture meter is your best friend here. Give it two full summers of drying and you'll be rewarded with a clean, hot burn.

Olive is a limited-availability wood found mostly in the western and southwestern states, mainly California where old orchards get removed. If you're out that way, check with local tree services. It's in the same league as Almond firewood for heat output. Plug your details into our heating calculator and you'll see just how few cords you'd need with wood this good.