We are finishing up a fantastic harvest of Red Haven peaches. Many have commented that they were the best peaches. In a week, those customers will be coming back for more and I will have to inform them that the Red Haven trees are empty. No more till next June. Not to worry, this is just the beginning of mid-season peaches. We are waiting for Gene Elberta, Suncrest, and Fay Elberta peaches to mature. We can't pick till they are ready. Meanwhile, white peaches will have our attention. These peaches are so delicate that my daughter says "They bruise by just looking at them." Please respect our "Do Not Handle " signs to preserve quality for yourself and the next customer.
An array of plums are starting to fill our display table. Santa Rosa, Black Amber, Burgundy, Satsuma, and Frontier. When I was growing up, over half a century ago, plums were the focus of this farm in the summer. We picked the plums when they were not quite ripe into 40 pound field lugs. From the orchard, the tractor pulled the the trailer filled with these lugs to the unloading dock at our packing shed. The lugs were unloaded and stacked five high. Each lug was then tipped onto an elevated grading table and blemished plums were removed before the plums were pushed onto a sizing belt. The sizing conveyor belt allowed the smallest plums to fall onto the packing table at the near end. The larger plums would drop onto the table as the conveyor belt widened at the far end. It was then the job of the packer to line up the plums in a predetermined pattern of 3 layers in each of 4 baskets that made up a crate of plums. The plums did not always cooperate with the pattern and we struggled to find plums of just the right size to meet the requirement. When the plums were packed just so, the crate was placed on a lidding table where a crate lid was manually nailed onto it. The crate was then loaded onto my father's, now ancient, 1950 Ford truck. My father would use rope and trucker's hitch to tie down the load of 40 to 80 crates. The load was taken to the fruit shed in Loomis where the inspector would open one of the crates and accept or reject our load. Our load was then placed into a gigantic refrigerator along with hundreds of crates from other growers in the area. When the fruit shed got an order, the crates were placed in an ice cooled box car. These trains took our plums to places such as Denver, Chicago, Boston, and New York.
After a full day of packing plums, my mother would send us out to pick blackberries. Kind of a love hate task. Wearing a long sleeved shirt and tall barn boots we respectfully picked berries between twisted thorny vines with our bare hands. We always ended up getting poked and scratched but the fruits of our labor were worth while. In a couple days we would be back to do it all again. It is blackberry season. We have baskets of these wild berries in the farm stand. These blackberries are sweet, juicy and so tasty.
The Berba crop of figs quickly came and went. Now we await the second crop. Predicted to show up at the end of July to mid August.
Hours
Tues thru Sat 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 to 5:00
Closed on Mondays
Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.
Blackberries: These are wild blackberies that grow on our property. They are painstakingly picked from thorny vines for your eating enjoyment. Sweet/tart and soo flavorful. Usually only in-season during July.
PEACHES
Red Haven: Yellow freestone peach. Great flavor, sweet and juicy.
Sugar Lady: White freestone peach. This pink to red skinned white peach is sweet and fragrant. Can be enjoyed on the firm side or left to become soft, juicy and sweet.
Silver Logan: White freestone peach. Beautiful pink skin color over white. Flesh has pink streaks in white flesh. Intense sweet flavor with some tang to it. Very tasty.
Nectar: White freestone peach. Delicate and subject to bruising. White skin over white flesh. Very sweet and juicy (limited supply).
Babcock: White freestone peach. Sweet, delicate flavor. Red to pink skin over white flesh (limited supply).
PLUMS
Santa Rosa:
Old sought after variety for their rich aromatic flavor. Early season
Santa Rosa have yellow flesh that is sweet tart. Late season Santa Rosa
have red flesh and are all sweet. Their fragrance will fills our
farm stand. They are great for fresh eating and have been known to win
jam contest for their flavor and sweet tart contrast.
Burgundy: Dark skin over red flesh. Sweet, mild tasting plum with firm flesh.
Black Amber: Black skin over Yellow flesh. Floral fragrance, juicy and sweet. Mostly eaten fresh. This plum is a freestone and often used in baking. Black Amber Plum pie is one of our favorite:
4 1/2 cups Black Amber plums. Unpeeled and seed removed. Slice into a medium size mixing bowl. Add 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup tapioca, 1/4 teaspoon Almond extract. Mix all ingredients together and let set for 15 minutes. Line 9 inch pie plate with pie crust topped with 1 tablespoon diced butter. Pour plum mixture into crust. Put on top pie crust and seal edges well. Poke holes in top crust to allow steam and juice to vent. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and cinnamon. Place cookie sheet or foil under pie to catch drips. Bake 400 degrees until bubbly. 45 to 50 minutes.
Satsuma: Old time red flesh plum. The flesh becomes more and more jelly-like as it softens. These are small and sweet. (Limited supply.)
Frontier: Sweet, mild-flavored plum. Red flesh as it ripens. (Limited supply.)
Hoshigaki :
These are whole dried persimmons. They were hand massaged while they
dried over a period of four to eight weeks. Some are firm, others are
soft and moist. All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon
sugar. No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the
best hoshigaki without any shortcuts. This takes time and attention
during the drying season. Hoshigaki are now available in the farm
stand. Contact us for large on-farm
pick-up orders. (916) 791-1656 or email at otowochard@yahoo.com.
Hoshigaki strips: These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.
Hachiya Pulp: Frozen
Hachiya persimmon pulp is available. Often used to make cookies,
puddings and breads. Many customers put it on yogurt and oatmeal or
add it to their smoothie.
Eureka Lemons: These are very tart lemons. Great for contrast in sweet and sour recipes like: lemonade, lemon meringue pie, sweet and sour pork, and lemon bars.
Valencia Oranges: Sweet juicing oranges.
Local Honey Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.
⚘ Calendula Salve and Lip Balm: Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.
Green and Yellow Zucchini.
Yellow crookneck
Cucumbers:
Armenian: Light and dark green in color. Young cucumbers have few seeds. Background flavor of melon.
Asian cucumbers: Bumpy or spiny. Long green seedless cucumbers. Sweet, flavorful and often burpless. Melon rind-like flavor.
Cherry tomatoes:
Sungold (orange)
Sweetie (red)
Suncherry (red)
Other Vegetables: (Limited supply.)
Japanese eggplant
Green beans
Shishito peppers
Aoshiso leaves
Here is what we have from other producers:
Sunnyslope Farm: conventionally grown peaches from Granite Bay.
Flavorcrest: Yellow freestone. Juicy, sweet with some tang.
June Pride: Yellow freestone peach. Sweet and juicy with firm flesh.
Stoney Point Orchard, Loomis, CA organic certified:
Rio Red Grapefruit: Juicy and sweet with a bit of tartness. Flesh is pink.
La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens. Limited supply.
Onions: La Bella Vito Farm is bringing us red, yellow, and white onions sustainably grown in Loomis, CA. (Limited supply.)
Fresh Bouquets
of colorful in-season flowers from La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis.
