Fruit and News: Week of June 25, 2012


THIS WEEK’S FRUIT

Flavorcrest  Peaches Its a well-known peach whose attractiveness and bold sweetness makes it the third most widely planted fresh-market peach in California. Flavorcrests at Frog Hollow enjoy more time on the branch to fully develop their distinctive sweetness. Goldensweet Apricots The Golden Sweet is a smaller apricot that makes up for whatever it lacks in size with its rich flavor. Though we may bake pastries featuring other varieties, the Golden Sweet is our variety of choice for our best-selling apricot conserve. Another California born and bred variety, it has a brilliant golden orange skin with a soft blush. Emeraude Nectarines Sugar-sweet and alluring, the Emeraude nectarines feature fuschia skin over juicy white flesh.

A Note From Farmer Al

farmer al with csa child in princess dress Dear CSA Members, It was great to have so many of you come to the farm yesterday!  The weather was perfect for picnicking, peach picking and peach preserving, as well as children running, laughing and playing everywhere. I led farm tours through the orchards and folks got to see our irrigation in action – micro sprinklers misting water into the root-zone of each tree; they saw our bee gardens buzzing with honey bees, bumble bees, and other native bees;  they saw old orchards with gnarled trunks and sun-burned bark next to young orchards with tall graceful branches and vigorous new shoots.  My daughters Maddie (9) and Millie (6) came too, to point out each different variety of trees, and at one point Maddie found a gopher snake and proudly held it up for all to see! Meanwhile, in our commercial kitchen, Chef Becky gave peach preserving classes for a lucky few (with advance reservations), and guess what I’m having on toast for breakfast today! For me it was delightful to see dozens of families scattered throughout the orchard sitting on hay bales and enjoying their picnics, the beauty of the day, and each other. And then there was peach picking!  We estimate that people picked about 1000 pounds of Flavor Crest Peaches and probably ate as many too! We all want to thank Lael Gerhart, event co-coordinator, for her stellar work in organizing the event so that everyone had a great experience.  I’m already looking forward to the next one this Fall.   Organically yours, Signature of Farmer Al  

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