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!
