Jujube and Early Persimmons

Jujube

We have jujube now at the fruit stand.  A jujube is a a fruit that looks kind of like a small apple but has a drier texture with more complex flavors.  It can be eaten when it's crunchy or more mature and wrinkly.  It's nutritious and used sometimes for medicinal purposes.  "Chinese date" and natsume are other names for jujube.    

The persimmons on the trees are getting color earlier than usual, maybe because of the late warm weather.  We've even picked some soft hachiya persimmons and the first maru (or chocolate) persimmons already.  These early hachiya and maru are smaller and not as sweet as they should be later in the season.  

Many people have been asking about this year's mail order form for hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon).  We plan to post it next week on this website.  Although all the persimmons seem to ripening early this year, the hachiya and gyombo varieties we use for are still not quite orange enough yet to start peeling them for drying into hoshigaki.