Buying Guides

Real olive wood grain swirls and runs right through the wood. No two pieces look the same. With Thanksgiving behind us, holiday gift shopping is about to begin in earnest. Craft markets, online marketplaces and big box stores are already filling up with "olive wood" boards, bowls and spoons, and some of them are not what they claim to be. Real olive wood is beautiful, dense and built to last for decades. Lookalikes can be stained softwood, glued scraps, or simply another wood

Dense olive wood is kind to your knife and tough enough for the biggest carving job of the year. Thanksgiving weekend is almost here. Whether your family sits down on Saturday, Sunday or Monday, the next few days are the busiest of the year for a lot of Canadian kitchens. Knives come out for carving, hot roasting pans come out of the oven, and leftovers head into the fridge and freezer. It is also when people start asking real questions about their cutting board: is it bad fo

Measure your counter and your sink first. The right size is the board you will reach for every day. Thanksgiving is a week away, and for a lot of Canadian kitchens that means one thing: suddenly there is a lot more chopping, carving and serving to do than usual. Turkey, stuffing, three kinds of vegetables and a pie all need a place to be prepped. It is also the moment many people realise the board they have been using is too small, too thin, or simply the wrong shape for the

Maple, walnut, teak, bamboo, or olive wood? Here is how the common cutting board woods compare, and why dense, single-slab olive wood comes out ahead.

Natural live-edge olive wood, made to stand out. If your olive wood board has a dark, rough edge running along the side, that is the natural bark of the olive tree, left on by hand on purpose. It is not a defect. It is the clearest sign that your board is genuine olive wood, shaped from a real branch or trunk rather than cut from a uniform factory blank. Here is what the bark edge is, why we keep it, whether it is safe, and how to care for it. What the Bark Edge Actually Is A

Personalized olive wood board, ready to gift. Olive wood cutting boards are safe to use when they are properly made, properly dried, properly finished, and properly cared for. In my opinion, they are one of the most natural, durable, and beautiful kitchen tools you can bring into your home. I have personally used olive wood boards for about 10 years and have been selling them through Olive Wood Work since its Canadian launch in 2024. During this time, I have handled many boar

Olive wood cutting board vs plastic: how they compare on safety, longevity, and everyday use, plus what to expect from a board that lasts.

How much do olive wood cutting boards cost? A clear breakdown of pricing, sizes, engraving, and what shapes the final number in 2026.

When it comes to outfitting your kitchen with beautiful, functional tools, few materials compare to olive wood. For centuries, artisans across the Mediterranean have crafted kitchenware from this extraordinary hardwood, and for good reason. At Olive Wood Work, we bring this tradition straight from Crete, Greece to Canadian homes. What Makes Olive Wood So Special? Olive wood is one of the densest and most durable hardwoods available. Its tight grain structure makes it naturall