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THIS WEEK’S FRUIT:
Fuyu Persimmons
Frog Hollow Farm, Brentwood, CA
The Fuyu has a crisp texture with a rich honey sweet flavor. They have a beautiful orange to red hue when ripe, often with tiny brown speckles on the skin. They can be eaten out of hand with skin on or peeled.
Pomegranates
Twin Girls Farm, 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. Enjoy the arils alone or use them in salads, desserts, or beverages. To read more about the fine folks at Twin Girls Farm see our previous blog post at http://bit.ly/2fnFf2m.
Fuji Apples
Cuyama, New Cuyama, CA
Fujis are a cross between Red Delicious and Ralls Janet, an heirloom apple dating back to Thomas Jefferson. They are one of the sweetest variety apples around making them a household favorite.
Valencia Oranges
Twin Girls Farm, Yettem, CA
Valencia Oranges are known for their very sweet tasting and brightly colored juice. They are one of the most popular varieties used for bottled juices because of this. Their sweet, bright flavor and minimal seed content and sweet flesh that makes them a perfect snack.
….all varieties are subject to change…
A NOTE FROM SARAH:
Greetings. Everyone made it through Halloween without too many sugar induced comas we hope?!
We cannot believe how fast the year has gone. It’s NOVEMBER?! The Farm is filled with yellow and amber leaves drifting on the breezes that keep the day cool. We got a little of 2 inches of rain here with the last series of storms, which saves us an irrigation. Wanna know something funny? Farmer AL had the irrigation going when it started to rain. When I asked him why he was irrigating he said, “What do you mean “why”? The trees need water.” I pulled up the satellite picture of what was heading our way and his reaction was this, “I’ll have the men turn off the water.” A farmer not checking the weather??? It was funny. Guess you had to be there.
The Tree Team has been pruning so the Field Team has had to go in behind them and remove the tree trimmings, taking it to our compost pile to be turned into a rich, fertile soil amendment. For stumps or large branches from orchards that have had to be removed and won’t breakdown into compost in a reasonable time, we have a burn permit. We have to call the fire department to see when it’s a permissible burn day. Sometimes they are few and far between. We’ve been lucky this year with the last series of storms the air quality was such that we were allowed to burn a couple piles. I know this doesn’t sound like the most environmentally sound way of discarding our trim trimmings, but it truly is. We reduce the volume by 95% and then disc in the ashes which enriches the soil. Yes, there are pollutants released into the air, but at least we aren’t adding to the landfills and our trimming have no chemicals that can release into the environment. And the warm glow of a burn pile as the sun sets on the horizon is a sight and smell of Fall on the Farm.
This is also the time of year that we get the soil prepped for new plantings of trees. We’re prepping for a 20 acre block to be planted in February. The soil has been ripped, disced and rows of berms made. The berms are what we plant each tree on so if Springs rains come the tree roots don’t get too wet, drowning the tree. It’s exciting to see them all lined up waiting to receive the trees. It speaks to the future and to doing what we love to do – grow trees and produce amazing fruit.
November brings the end of daylight savings, Election Day (don’t forget to VOTE if you haven’t already), Veteran’s Day and the anticipation of the Holidays, which are just around the corner. Be sure to check for deliver schedule changes due to Thanksgiving and some farmer’s market pick-up location closures for the Christmas and New Year holidays. We will be including reminders in the newsletter and you should be getting emails spelling it all out.
Also, don’t forget, as CSA Members you get discounts on our products. These make fantastic holiday gifts for your family and friends. If you don’t know how it all works just email or give Danni a call. We’ll be happy to explain it.
VOTE. Remember a Veteran and check for schedule changes. Did I say VOTE? VOTE!!!
Be Healthy,
Sarah
