Salem, Oregon · Since 2008
Rooted in Resilience.
Grown with Purpose.
Bigger than one farm
Part of something
growing
Marni didn't build this grove in isolation. She's part of the Olive Growers of Oregon — a community of more than a dozen growers across the state pooling knowledge, sharing hard-won experience, and collectively raising the bar for what Pacific Northwest olive oil can be.
"We all keep trying and consulting with each other," she says. "We're a community trying to figure it out together. I think we've made it."
The harvest itself is a community event — friends and volunteers converge on the grove each fall to handpick the fruit, pour a little wine, and celebrate another season. That spirit of generosity runs through every bottle.
As Seen In
"Beautiful, romantic, and uniquely Oregon."
— Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB)
"The flavors are all there in Oregon olives. It's an intense experience — an indication of what you're going to find when you mill."
— Oregon Wine Press, on Oregon estate olive oil
From Our Grove To Your Kitchen
Taste what
seventeen years built.
The Name Behind The Name
Meet the
Mother Tree
The brand is named after one specific tree: Marni's favorite olive, rooted just outside her kitchen window. It's not the biggest tree on the property, or the most productive. But it's the one she sees every morning. The one that survived when others didn't. The one that, in some ways, represents everything this grove is about.
When Marni chose to name her line after that tree, it wasn't just a brand decision — it was a tribute. To survival. To roots. To the idea that something beautiful can grow in unlikely soil, if you're willing to stay with it long enough.
The Grove At A Glance
Built over 17 years
375
Mature
Olive Trees
3
Acres Of
Estate Land
2008
Year the first
trees were planted
0
Chemicals used
on this land. Ever.
It sounded romantic.
Marni Redding can't pinpoint the exact moment she decided to grow olives on her property outside West Salem. "Somehow we landed on the idea," she says. "It sounded romantic. They are pretty, and they didn't lose their leaves."
That instinct — to grow something beautiful, permanent, and full of flavor — launched one of the most interesting agricultural stories in Oregon. What followed wasn't easy. But everything worth building rarely is.
"That's a proud moment."
— Marni Redding, on holding the first bottle of her oil
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How It Began
2008 — Year One
The first planting
Marni planted her first round of olive trees — small, two-year-old saplings — on three acres outside West Salem. The Pacific Northwest had never been natural olive country, but the climate was closer than anyone thought. The trees went in the ground full of hope.
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2008–2009 — The Hard Winter
Almost 100 trees lost
Then the winter came. Young, unestablished trees — too tender for what Oregon can deliver — didn't survive. Marni watched from the house, knowing, but not wanting to count.
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2009 — The Turning Point
California, and a better way
Instead of giving up, Marni drove to California. She sought out McEvoy Ranch — one of the most respected olive growers and suppliers in the country — and came back with a different approach: plant older, more established trees. Trees 4 and 5 years old, with developed root systems and a better chance of surviving an Oregon freeze.
The survival rate changed dramatically. The grove had a second chance.
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2013 — First Harvest
Oil in the bottle
With the grove maturing and the trees established, Marni pressed her first harvest. Working with the Oregon Olive Mill — the only commercial olive mill in the Pacific Northwest — she squeezed roughly 25 gallons of oil, bottled 12 cases, and began selling through area winery tasting rooms. The product line grew to include balsamic vinegar and, in collaboration with Salem's SLAB handcrafted soap company, a limited-edition olive oil soap.
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2017 — Recognition
Oregon's olive pioneer
Mother Tree was featured in Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and covered by the Oregon Wine Press, drawing attention to what Marni had built — and to the broader movement of Oregon olive growers she had helped shape. The grove had become a point of pride, not just for Marni, but for a growing community of growers statewide trying to establish olives as an Oregon crop.
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Today — The Grove at Full Maturity
375 trees. Three acres.
One family.
Today, Mother Tree Olive Grove is home to 375 mature olive trees across three acres of West Salem farmland. Not a single tree on this property has been sprayed with chemicals. Every olive is handpicked at peak ripeness. Every bottle carries a polyphenol test to verify its quality. And every harvest is a reminder of what patience and resilience can produce — one hard-won bottle at a time.
"We had a bad winter last year, and I didn't lose a single tree. We had frozen ground, snow, ice. I couldn't believe it."
— Marni Redding, Oregon Wine Press
The Story