THIS WEEK’S FRUIT

Cal Red Peaches 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. Our best-selling variety, Cal Red fans mark their calendars to eagerly await harvest each year. Some years the Cal Red has a harvest window as brief as two weeks, leaving a huge impression for a peach with such fleeting availability. August Fire Nectarine The August Fire, similar to the August Red in appearance, taste, and texture bring our nectarine season to a close beautifully. They’re both elegantly shaped and rich in flavor, with deep red skin and warm orange flesh. Flavor King Pluots 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.

A Note From Farmer Al

CONVERGENCE

It seemed like an almost insurmountable task at the beginning of the week, but sure enough, just like every year before it, we did it. This was the week of Cal Red harvesting. But now I see Warren Pears beginning to fall on the ground and realize that they also must be picked, same for the August Fire Nectarines, Asian Pears, and Flavor King Plouts. Meanwhile, extra kitchen crews must be hired to process all the kitchen grade fruit accumulating in our coolers; and extra cutting crews must be brought in to cut and dry the huge quantities of over ripe fruit. All of these activities of course produce huge amounts of residues (skin, pits, fruit scraps, etc) which must be disposed of. But unlike all previous years, we now have a very valuable use for this material…making compost! Fungi and bacteria love sugar as much as we do, so we set their table with a feast of fruit, shredded orchard prunings, coffee grounds, straw and horse manure. Three months later we have rich, black microbially active compost, fungally dominant which is what trees like best. So this whirlwind of activities reached its crescendo last week amidst a heat wave, increased customer demand, farm tours for media visitors, college students seeking apprenticeships and my kids going back to school! Oh yes, and a visit from my old college track teammate Forrest Beaty. This coming week will be more of the same but at a somewhat lessened intensity, and then a little bit slower the following week, and so on and so on. But it never stops; only the pace changes, but it always continues throughout the whole year. And I love it because we are immersed in the cycles of life, of growth, fulfillment, decline, death, decay and rebirth. And I give thanks to you, our loyal CSA members, for participating in that joyful fulfillment link in the cycle. Organically yours,