Persimmon Season Begins

We have started peeling and hanging hachiya persimmons to dry for hoshigaki. Come to the fruit stand if you can, and see the beginning of the process. We also have some fresh hachiya, maru (chocolate) persimmons and hyakume persimmons in the fruit stand. We treat the hyakume with a bit of vodka to remove its natural astringency. The vodka is undetectable to the taste, but the hyakume is left sweet and delicious, even when still firm.

This week, Otow Orchard will be featured on television on the PBS show, California Gold with Huell Howser. Last fall he and his show's staff came to interview us about making hoshigaki (dried persimmons). We haven't seen the show yet ourselves, but we've heard good reviews of it from people in Southern California who saw it a few weeks ago. In our area it is showing on Oct. 9th on KVIE at 8:00 PM, on Oct. 10th at 2:00 PM, and on Oct. 11th at 4:00 AM.

In the Fruitstand we now have:

• Persimmons--Hachiya, Maru, Hyakume (vodka-treated), and Hoshigaki (dried)
• Asian Pear--Okusankichi
• European Pear--Comice
• Apples--Fuji, Mutsu, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith
  
• Pomegranates--white and red varieties
• Plums--Casselman
• Peaches--only a few clings left
• Quince--a good crop this year
• Jujube--just a few left
• Vegetables--winter squash, green and yellow zucchini, tomatoes, tomatillos, chiles (both sweet and hot), Japanese eggplant, garlic, onions, potatoes, Swiss chard and basil