Christmas has come early for me this year as the lovely people at Nudo (who produce olive oil) sent me this quirky gourmet gift that I absolutely love – it’s perfect for foodies and a real hidden gem. Instead of buying food lovers the usual cookery books or kitchen gadgets, Nudo  is running a scheme where you can adopt your very own olive tree (or adopt one as a gift for someone else) from an olive grove in Italy. The adoption process is pretty straightforward – you can either choose your own grove that you ‘d like your olive tree to come from, or the Nudo team can select one for you – and become the proud parent of an olive tree for a year.

My very own adopted olive tree in Italy

Once you’ve chosen and adopted your olive tree, Nudo send you out information about your tree, along with your very own adoption certificate, making it all official! Apparently my tree is 40-years-old, lives in the Rosalio grove, near the village of Loro Piceno (Le Marche, Italy) and produces olives that are of the leccino variety. And it’s also possible to put your parenting skills to the test by arranging a visit to see, or water your tree, in its grove.

It's official - I'm a proud parent

But the really cool bit about adopting an olive tree through Nudo is that you get sent a package of olive oil that has been produced from the olives grown on your very own tree (and a few of its neighbours). Through the course of the year you received two lots of oil – a spring package which consists of around two litres of high-quality extra virgin olive oil from your tree, and an autumn package made up of three tins of Nudo’s premium range of infused extra virgin olive oils (these come in chic designer tins and the range includes citrusy lemon oil, fiery chilli oil and zesty mandarin olive oil).

Nudo olive oil designer tins

Nudo’s adopt an olive tree costs £65 which on the face of it seems a bit pricey. But you do get around two litres of high-end olive oil (a 500ml of Nudo extra virgin olive oil costs £9.99) plus three tins from Nudo’s infused range (these start from £5.99 upwards. Or you can buy a three tenors box for £18 consisting of 3x250ml tins from the range, which Oprah has named as one of her favourite things this holiday season) so all in all it adds up to a pretty good deal.

So if you’ve left your Christmas shopping to the last minute, are super organised, or like me one of your resolutions for the New Year is to learn to plan ahead, adopting an olive tree through Nudo is a brilliant gourmet gift for foodies. Now all I need is some help in the kitchen with my cooking…