THIS WEEK’S FRUIT

Summerset Peaches The Summerset matures into a very large peach, some weighing in at more than two pounds! Bright yellow with hardly no blush to speak of, the Summerset is a freestone that boasts a bold flesh that has a strong peach flavor. Sweet and juicy but with a tart, acidic bite, it makes for a nice contrast as a follow-up to the extremely sweet Cal Red. The Summerset has a nicely firm texture that freezes well and is a favorite of ours to bake with. 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. Hosui Asian Pears The Hosui is popular in both Japan and in California. They have a rough, thick skin with flesh that while still crunchy has a more melting mouthful, making the texture combination when eaten out of hand spectacular. Very juicy and sweet with a milder pear taste, their round shape and beautiful golden hue make them ideal for presentation with a distinctively Autumnal feel. Flame Seedless Grapes Firm, large, and sweet the Flame Seedless are one of the most popular varieties in North America. Enjoy these out of hand or try them in green salads, chicken salads, or fruit salads.

A Note From Farmer Al

Bats, Bees and Owls

Two weeks ago I took my daughters Maddie and Millie for a golf cart ride to visit the “haunted house”, one of their favorite destinations. It’s an old deserted decaying Victorian farmhouse on a nearby neighboring farm, surrounded by lots of tall trees – a very spooky place. On this particular visit, while opening the front door, we discovered a bat hiding in crack in the wooden walk. The kids were fascinated, and it was certainly a first for me to see a creature of nature so up-close and personal! Coincidentally, we are in the planning process of creating wild life habitat on the farm. We’ve actually been doing this for more than 10 years, but now are resolved to seriously create a more robust program to increase the populations of bats, bees, and owls. Bees are for pollination services and I’ve told you about the 10-year research project on native bees by Dr. Gordon Frankie. The hedge rows and gardens Dr. Frankie is planting are attracting dozens of species of native bees to complement the domestic bee colonies we have. Increased populations of domestic bees and native bees will give us more secure and diversified pollination services in the future. Bats are for insect control, and this will be our first attempt to provide them with man-made houses. My wife, Becky, is very concerned about controlling mosquito population because of the recent West Nile Virus cases reported in Northern California. Some bats consume up to 1,000 mosquitoes per hour on a good night. It sure beats smearing that nasty smelling repellant all over you on a hot summer night in Brentwood. Owls are for rodent control. Gophers have caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage here on Frog Hollow Farm in the past. In fact, I rank gophers as the most damaging of all pests we deal with here on the farm. They eat the roots of trees, especially newly planted and younger ones, killing the tree. Recently, we’ve relied on our skilled hunter Miguel, whose job is to hunt all day long, every day, with a shotgun. He is very good, and can kill dozens of gophers per day when the populations are high. We’ve also used trapping in the past which is even more labor intensive. Now we plan to install 13 owl boxes to provide habitat for barn owls. That’s one pair of owls for every 10 acres, and these amazing night hunters will eat one gopher per night each. Soon our gopher population will be under control with much reduced cost compared to the labor intensive method of hunting. Tune in this time next year for the sequel……