Follow
THIS WEEK’S FRUIT
Cal Red Peach
The beloved Cal Red is in a class by itself and is the “Oh my God” peach! A relatively new variety and a California native, the Cal Red was bred by
University of California botanist Claron O. Hesse in the mid 1960s. Aptly named for the Golden State, the Cal Red is a beautiful golden peach marked with a gentle, sun-kissed blush.
O’Henry Peach
Farmer Al’s favorite peach to grill, the O’Henry has the flavor, size, and crim- son blush that makes for a truly memorable peach. It’s elegantly pointed shape slices to an attractive heart shape for striking presentation. Our O’Henry harvest overlaps briefly with our harvest of the Cal Red leading to a matchup of two of our biggest varieties. At participating farmers markets, our Battle of the Peaches taste-offs between these two varieties grows more and more popular each year.
Flavor King Pluots
The best pluot variety we grow! A dark-skinned pluot with red flesh, it has an intense rich flavor combined with sweet, spicy tones that are reminiscent of the Santa Rosa. A nice acid bite and firm texture that softens beautifully as the fruit continues to ripen, the Flavor King is amazing out of hand and equally good for baking.
Flavor Heart Pluot
The Flavor Heart gets its name from its distinctively tapered shape. Its meaty, pale yellow flesh is very low in acid and the sweetness and color contrasts strikingly with its dark purple almost black skin.
Summer Fire Nectarine
The Summer Fire has a firm meaty flesh that isn’t as juicy as some of our other varieties but is packed with a red wine intensity that makes it a memorable and desirable nectarine. Often with a deeper reddish hue than the Fantasia, the Summer Fire is a variety that’s worth the extra effort it takes to slice and pit a clingstone: its warm yellow flesh is streaked beautifully with red near the pit.
Flame Seedless Grapes
Firm, large, and sweet the Flame Seedless are one of the most popular varieties in North America. Enjoy these out of hand or try them in green salads, chicken salads, or fruit salads.
A NOTE FROM FARMER AL
Dear CSA members,
So many crops are ripening at the same time; it’s often a challenge to decide which ones to pick next. It’s “peak” peach pick time, with four varieties ripening: Cal Red, O’Henry, August Flame and August Lady. The nectarines are just two varieties – August Reds and August Fire. The plums/pluots are four varieties – Flavor King, Flavor Heart, Dapple Dandy and Emerald Beaut.
And now come the Warren pears – 11 acres of them – all needing to be picked now because they drop to the ground the moment they get ripe.
The peaches need to be picked at just that right moment of full ripeness, yet not too ripe or they’ll be just too soft to be saleable and will have to be sent to either the drying operation or the freezing operation. (Thank goodness we have those options to capture the value of the overripe fruit, which is actually the sweetest fruit!)
The two varieties of nectarines are behaving themselves this year and ripening very slowly unlike in previous years when we’ve lost too many to over ripeness. This year we’re picking them only as fast as we need to in order to fulfill orders.
Then there are the plums/pluots. They are “farmer friendly” for two reasons:
#1: They hang well on the tree, meaning that unlike the Warren pears, they do not drop to the ground.
#2: And unbelievably, they don’t get over ripe on the tree either, as do peaches and nectarines. They’re also consumer friendly because they ripen perfectly, over several days, at home at room temperature.
So all of these growth and ripening characteristics of each fruit must be weighed in the balance of ‘make and demand,’ order fulfillment, the capacity of my picking crew, packing shed capabilities, and storage capacity. Not to mention the pressures of weather. This year we’ve had only a couple of very short heat waves, so it’s been okay — easy on the fruit and easy on the workers.
If only we didn’t have the drought, with all of its consequences to deal with, this year would be a “good year” — a farmer’s dream!
