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THIS WEEKS FRUIT
Gold Dust Peaches
Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood, CA
Its a well-known peach whose attractiveness and bold sweetness makes it the third most widely planted fresh-market peach in California. Flavor Crests at Frog Hollow enjoy more time on the branch to fully develop their distinctive sweetness.
Golden Sweet Apricots
Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood, CA
A smaller apricot that makes up for whatever it lacks in size with its rich flavor. Though we may bake pastries featuring other varieties, the Golden Sweet is our variety of choice for our best-selling apricot conserve. A California born and bred variety, it has a brilliant golden orange skin with a soft blush.
Santa Rose Plums
Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood, CA
Red-skinned with a purple bloom, its amber flesh gets flushed with red. It’s plump perfection with tender flesh that’s extremely sweet and juicy. A bit of tartness in the skin balances out the sweetness.
Early Blue Blueberries
Riverdance Farms, Livingston, CA
As the name implies, the Early Blue is an early variety. They are large and sweet. These are great for cooking, if you don’t eat them all first!
A NOTE FROM FARMER AL
Dear CSA Members,
Our house was built on what was once an apple orchard. When the folks that built our house bought this parcel, they pulled out all 10 acres of apples but they left a few trees here and there and every time I see them I try to imagine what it must have looked like, this piece of land planted solidly in apple trees. They are vigorous sturdy little trees; they must be on a dwarfing root stock and were probably espaliered.
I drive by these few trees multiple times everyday when I go from my house to the packing shed. In Spring I enjoy their light green leaves and delicate pink blossoms. They even manage to produce some fruit even though they are largely neglected. These last couple of weeks I have noticed the tell tale signs of fire blight on those little trees. A few tips hereand there have the dead, torched like appearance of the deadly bacteria.
Everyday more branches are affected. As I drive through our orchard I see that the quince has them too and so do their cousins, the pears. Fireblight is devastating this year; we’ve already lost several dozen trees.The disease races through the vascular system of the trees, turning theleaves and wood, black and withered, as though scorched by fire. It will kill the tree in a matter of weeks if not surgically removed by pruning. Pruners must be very careful with their pruning shears, so as not to spread the disease. Each man carries a bucket of chlorine solution and the pruning shears must be dis-infected after each cut. It is very tedious and heart-breaking work.
Th e good news is that the Warren Pears which are resistant to Fireblight are unaffected. It’s actually unbelievable to witness. Our 2003 pear block was planted in rows alternating, Warren, Bosc, Warren, Taylor’s Gold, Warren, Bosc, Warren, Taylor’s Gold, etc, etc. Every other row is Warren pears and they are unscathed. Not even a single brown leaf.
So, needless to say, we will be replanting with Warrens. Luckily it’s our favorite pear anyway. Originally, I wanted diversity but Mother Nature has determined otherwise and with a very heavy hand indeed. So, I guess we will have to settle for the best one…the amazing Warren Pear!
