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THIS WEEK’S FRUIT
Warren Pear
Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood
This is Frog Hollow Farm’s signature pear and for good reason. Too difficult to grow for most farmers, 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.
Pink Lady Apples
Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood
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 makes this an excellent apple for salads and slicing.
Pomegranate
Twin Girl Farms, Yettem, CA
Native to the regions of Persia and the Western Himalayan range, pomegranates have been cultivated for several millennia. When sliced open a beautiful array of jewel-like seeds are displayed. The aril is the colorful casing that surrounds the edible seeds and has a sweet tart flavor.
Hass Avocado
Traceland Organics, Cayucos, CA
Creamy in texture, nutty in flavor, with a small to medium seed. The Hass skin is easy to peel and darkens from green to purplish-black as it ripens.
Hosui Asian Pear
Terra Firma Farm, Winters
The Hosui has a rougher, thicker skin and flesh that is a crunchy, yet melting mouthful. This makes the texture combination when eaten out of hand spectacular. Very juicy and sweet with a milder pear taste, their round shape and beautiful golden hue make them ideal for presentation with a distinctively Autumnal feel.
Fuji Apple
Cuyama Farm, New Cuyama,CA
Fujis are a cross between Red Delicious and Ralls Janet, an heirloom apple dating back to Thomas Jefferson.
A NOTE FROM FARMER AL
Dear CSA Members,
About 2 weeks ago we had an unscheduled visit to the farm by some very interesting folks from Tennessee. Actually, they did call ahead (that was only a few hours ahead) and it was as usual a very busy Friday.
Nevertheless, they arrived late that same afternoon and so my plan was to meet, greet, and send them out to the orchard to do their filming. Yes, “they” were a film crew creating a documentary about food in America; how it is grown, distributed, eaten, etc. Here’s the link to their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/eatingyoualivefilm
I wound up staying with them until dark. They were such interesting people (4 of them) and doing such good work. But, the best thing about their filming was their drone. It was the first time I’d ever seen one. It was fascinating! It was about the size of a car steering wheel: 4 little propellers, a battery and a camera! It’s vertical range and horizontal ranges were about 3,000 feet. It was controlled by an iphone. I was amazed at how easily they used it to get video shots of all aspects of our orchards, gardens and buildings.
My kids loved it. I predict that within 2 years we’ll be using drones (probably operated by Maddie & Millie) to monitor many aspects of our orchards’ growth from water stress to fertility needs.
More next time…
