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STORY: Harvesting is underway on the slopes of this olive grove.But this isn't a southern European country, as you might expect.Amid Europe's warming climate, these olive trees are thriving... in Hungary.::This Earth Near the city of Pecs, Gabor Stix has been experimenting with an olive grove for years.Stix cultivates trees for sale and expects all those grown this year to be sold by March."They love this climate," he says.And according to him, the country's olive tree industry is gaining popularity."There are more and more of us. It’s not just one or two people getting into it, we are growing exponentially."Since 2008, wine maker Csaba Torok has bought around 200 olive trees from Spain to plant in his vineyard.It's near Lake Balaton in western Hungary on a volcanic butte with sunny slopes, ample rain, and rich soil.And his trees are happy there."We increasingly belong to a climate where these trees can find a home on the better slopes. For me, it is not about wanting a decorative tree. I see these trees as an integral part of the landscape here in the future."Torok takes his hand-picked olive crop to neighboring Slovenia to be made into virgin oil.He then sells that for around $120 per liter - or about 34 fluid ounces. Southern Europe is becoming like a desert in its climate, Torok says, and the areas where olive groves can flourish appear to be shifting northwards.Spain usually supplies around 40% of the world's olive oil.But it has suffered poor olive harvests in the past two years, no thanks to heatwaves and a prolonged drought.That's doubled olive oil prices to record levels.Though the Spanish farm ministry said last week, there are signs of a recovery this year.According to the European Environment Agency last month, the continent is the fastest warming in the world.And it faces a greater risk of drought in the south.Nowadays, even north of Hungary in Slovakia, it's become trendy to plant olive trees to give gardens a 'Mediterranean feeling'. Garden center owner IstVan Vass has imported some 25 truckloads of olive trees from Spain this year, selling them for about $330 to $550 per tree."There are lots of olive trees planted outside in the gardens and they cope really well," he says.Still, Vass recommends covering them up for the first winter, to protect them from the freezing temperatures that do take place.
