The machine looks like an alien's udder. Six blue spring-loaded teats from the stainless and flex-tubed contraption fill and staunch the olive oil flow into bottles. Each glass bottle disengages and moves to a table for corking and labeling. The bottling machine and its companion oil press are state-of-the-art equipment, the first ones in Texas.

The assistants move with the rhythm of the machine, but rather than working mechanically, they are joking, smiling, and carefully finishing their production line work. The activity is celebratory and historic in this Olympic pool-sized frantoia - the mill. This work at Texas Olive Ranch marks the largest commercial crop ever harvested in the state. Above a nearby door is a sign that reads: "In Olives We Trust."
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