THIS WEEK’S FRUIT

O’Henry Peaches Farmer Al’s favorite peach to grill, the O’Henry has the flavor, size, and crimson blush that makes for a truly memorable peach. It’s elegantly pointed shape slices to an attractive heart shape for striking presentation. 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. 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.

A Note From Farmer Al

Dear CSA Members, At the Farmers’ Markets I am often asked why our fruit tastes so much better than others. My answer always begins with “it is the soil and the special climate of Brentwood” which accounts for at least 50% of our quality. In France, wine grape growers call that “terroir”. Terroir is a subtle thing…it is the essence of place (soil and climate) but specifically, how each individual cultivar or variety interacts with the soil and climate. So human intervention plays a key role; which varieties the grower chooses, how he/she prunes, irrigates, fertilizes, thins, manages the ground cover, when to pick, etc. ,all these grower driven activities play a key role in how the terroir is expressed in the taste of the fruit. So, I’ll take some credit for taste. But as I drive around the farm, I marvel at the bounty and diversity of agriculture in the farmlands surrounding Frog Hollow Farm. Corn is not just corn, it is Brentwood corn. Beans and bell peppers abound, and are beautiful and delicious. And tomatoes grow amazingly well here. Sure, most of them are cannery tomatoes, but my money is on Brentwood ketchup above all others! Brentwood apricots and cherries used to be famous for their high quality as fresh fruit, but did you know we produced great almonds and walnuts as well? And let’s not forget apples…who needs Washington…ours are sweeter.  Just across highway 4 from our farm wine grapes are growing and many award winning wines such as those from Bloomfield Vineyards are produced here. The list goes on and on…Brentwood the “Napa Valley” of fruits, veggies, nuts; a veritable garden of Eden. I am thankful and I celebrate the essence of place…Brentwood, one of the most unique growing regions in all of California. Organically yours,