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THIS WEEK’S FRUIT
Tarocco Blood Orange
Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood, CA
A beautiful orange to deep red flesh is revealed when you slice open a Tarocco. The flesh of the blood orange is firmer and more dense than an orange and its flavor is a little more tart. These beauties sweeten and darken in color as the season progresses.
Pink Lady Apple
Cuyama Farm, New Cuyama, CA
A cross between the Golden Delicious and Lady Williams, the Pink Lady is a crisp and juicy apple with a tart finish. Pink skins and a creamy white colored flesh that resists browning make this an excellent apple for salads and slicing.
Fuji Apples
Cuyama Farm, New Cuyama, CA
Fujis are a cross between Red Delicious and Ralls Janet, an heirloom apple dating back to Thomas Jefferson. Fujis are loved by many for their crisp, sweet, and juicy character.
Navel Oranges
Twin Girl Farm, Yettem, CA
California Navel Oranges are considered to be the best Navels for eating out of hand. They have a thick skin that is easy to peel, are seedless and have a meaty and sweet flesh that makes them a perfect snack. Navels are also great for juicing and cooking.
Hayward Kiwis
Chiechi Farm, Live Oak, CA
Originally known as the Chinese gooseberry due to its Chinese origins. 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.
Owari Satsuma Mandarins
Abounding Harvest Mounain Farm, Los Gatos, CA
Satsumas are typically seedless with a thin skin that is loosely attached to the flesh making them very easy to peel. The flesh of the mandarin is very sweet and delicate leaving them susceptible to bruising, so handle with care. Do not place other fruits on top of the mandarins.
Ruby Grapefruit
Sundance Natural, Oceanside, CA
The Grapefruit is said to cross between the Jamaican sweet orange and the Indonesian pomelo, first documented in 1750. Ruby grapefruit was an accidental discovery of a red fruit growing on a pink grapefruit tree.
A NOTE FROM FARMER AL
Dear CSA Members,
The weather dominates everything on the farm. There is neither debate nor complaining about it. The rain is good, needed, and vital. We are all thankful for it.
Just before last week’s rain we were able to harvest our Tarocco blood oranges, and Meyer lemons, but since then, field operations have come to a stand-still…….no pruning, no compost production, and no mowing. No field work at all. This is the only downside of all this rain. It means no work for the men, so they must make do with even less than their already meager earnings. But not a word of complaint have I heard from them!
As for the compost, we fortunately turned all ten piles just before the heavy rain last week. So it’s in good shape, with every pile heating up nicely and decomposing well.
I just recently got a soil test report from Greg Young, our agronomist, and it confirms that we are in fact achieving our goals with the compost. The 2001 Apricot Orchard (our Goldensweet variety) has risen in SOM (soil organic matter) from about 4% three years ago to a very excellent 7.5% SOM. Our winter garden tested at a phenomenal 14.5% SOM, which may be one reason the greens we’re harvesting there taste so delicious.
Today I took a walk through the garden. Everything was vivid, radiating green energy and beauty. It’s something I love to do on these dark, damp, dreary days of winter. Just spend some time being in the winter garden.
Happy Holidays to All,
