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THIS WEEK’S FRUIT

Warren Pears
The Warren is to our pears as the Cal Red is to our peaches and the Flavor King to our pluots. This is Frog Hollow Farm’s signature pear and for good reason. Too difficult to grow for most farmers to consider it’s never caught on commercially but Farmer Al has never shied away from putting the time and effort into a fruit that tastes so good. It has a classic European texture, very soft and juicy with a silky sweetness that avoids the typical grittiness found in most pears. Pears are great sources of Vitamin C which, fights free radicals. They are also an excellent source of fiber. Eat the skins! Research shows that the skins contain three to four times as many antioxidants and anti-inflammatory flavonoids as the flesh. Doctors also recommend pears for introducing babies to solid foods because they are low in acid and will be easier on babies tummies.

Golden Russet Bosc Pears
The Bosc is a strikingly decorative pear that’s reputed to have first sprung to life as a wild seedling in the mid-18th century. It was introduced to the US in 1836 and has also been known as the Kaiser Alexander. The Golden Russet is true to its name with a yellowish-white flesh and a uniformly russet skin. It has the classic Bosc shape of a long elegant neck. Excellent for cooking, the Bosc’s texture holds up very well in pies, tarts, and for poaching.

Shinko Asian Pears
The Shinko is a large pear with its round shape slightly flattened. The skin is bronze with brown russeting and its juicy, creamy white flesh has a subtly rich flavor.

Hayward Kiwi
Chiechi Farms, Live Oak, CA
Originally known as the Chinese gooseberry due to its Chinese orgins. Hawyward Wright, a New Zealand nurseryman propagated his plants by grafting and they eventually became the preferred cultivar of growers due to their sweet flavor and thin skin. Kiwis are a great source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Potassium and Copper, and a very good source of Vitamin C and Vitamin K.

Clementines
Olsen Organic Farms, Lindsay, CA
Clementines are the smallest variety of mandarin oranges. They are a cross between a sweet orange and a Chinese mandarine. Clementines are very sweet, juicy, easy to peel, and usually seedless, making them very popular with children and adult alike. Clementines are rich in potassium, vitamin C and vitamin B-complex minerals like niacin and thiamine.

A Note from Farmer Al

Dear CSA Members,

Last Friday Matt and I went out to visit our new vegetable patch which he had recently planted and we were surprised and delighted to see lots of little sprouts coming up, even after two weeks of very little sunlight and day after day of drenching rain, only two items are up, Giant Sicilian Red Radish, and Iceberg Lettuce. Sounds like salad in March! This week, weather permitting, we’ll plant more items, including my favorites, Favas! This new veggie patch is a fitting metaphor for the “new veggie beginnings of Matt”, our “budding young farmer”.

Then coincidentally on Saturday, Matt’s father and sister showed up at the Ferry Building’s Farmers Market. His father Charlie lives in Minnesota and his sister Megan lives in Marin County. Megan is also just beginning a career starting a baked goods company, Picnic Pastries, using all fresh organic ingredients sourced locally from Marin County.

How did two siblings from St.Paul in Minnesota find their way into farming in California? Their story sounds reminiscent of mine. A city boy from Berkeley who is now a farmer in Brentwood?! Stranger things have happened…..I’m sure.

We’ll be telling you more of Matt’s and Megan’s stories in the weeks ahead and hopefully there will be many more stories of other new farmers in the years to come.