It was nearly the end of the day. The sun had just dipped below the horizon. The sky was a faded blue. Realizing daylight was limited, I was making a quick harvest through the tomato patch. As I pulled tomatoes off the vines I realized that my peripheral vision was busy. Turning my attention to the darting movement in the air just above my head I realized that dragonflies were busy. As I harvested tomatoes they were harvesting insects that I disturbed as I picked tomatoes from the vines. As I continued down the rows of tomatoes I gave each tomato cage a little extra shake to disturb a few extra critters into the air for the dragonflies on duty. As I watched this event unfold I recalled an evening from my childhood. My sister and I were in the farm yard at dusk. There were occasional dragonflies darting about snatching a bug here and a bug there. When we waved our arms, they would dart toward us but realize that we were not insects. We then discovered that if we threw a small object into the air we could attract the dragonflies. We had a great time that evening tossing bits of sand into the air and watching as many dragonflies swooped down to investigate these small objects. I think the dragonflies soon got wise to our antics or it was getting to be time for them to retire for the evening.
Sadly, the peach season is behind us till next June. Fall crops are in full swing. We have several varieties of apples, figs, grapes, Jujube, European pears, Asian pears, and persimmons. The White pomegranates and Quince are starting and the Casselman plums will be with us for a couple more weeks.
We are starting to harvest the brown fleshed persimmons: Coffeecake, Maru, Chocolate and Nagamaru. If these persimmon flowers were pollinated in the spring, seeds started to form. A persimmon has 8 seeds. The seeds influence the flesh to turn brown and sweet. When pollination is not successful the persimmon will remain astringent and the flesh will be orange. There is a range of sweetness dependent on the number of seeds that formed in the fruit. For the novice, our recommendation is to cut the persimmon to see the sweet brown flesh before biting into the fruit.
Hachiya and Fuyu persimmons are not ready for harvest. They are getting more color daily but not yet ready. Fuyu are often ready in late October. We may start to harvest Hachiya in a couple week but they will not be ready to eat for another month. I must add that every year is different.
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.
PLUMS
Casselman: Yellow fleshed plum. Very sweet and flavorful. Becomes more sweet and juicy when stored.
FIGS (Limited supply.)
Brown Turkey: Brown speckled skin with sweet, pink flesh. Mild sweetness with thoughts of honey.
Black Mission: Black skin with tan, caramel flavored flesh. Sweet and chewy.
Panache (Tiger Stripe): Greenish brown striped skin. Very sweet, pink flesh .
JUJUBE
Li jujube: Large sweet and crisp or soft and chewy.
Sugar Cane: Small and very sweet and crisp.
PERSIMMONS
Coffeecake: Early ripening persimmon. Don't let them fool you. They look like Fuyu persimmons but are actually brown fleshed persimmons. Can be eaten crisp or softer. Sweet flavor when pollinated and brown fleshed. For the novice, our recommendation is to cut the persimmon to see the sweet brown flesh before biting into the fruit.
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. A limited supply of 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. We usually begin processing the new season hoshigaki in October. We plan to put a mail order form on this website in late October.
Hoshigaki strips: These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.
APPLES
Striped Delicious: Sweet, crisp apple. Red blush over light yellow skin. Great for snacking and sauce.
GRAPES
Thompson Seedless: Small, sweet, yellow grapes.
Kyoho: Large, sweet, purple grapes with seeds. Flavorful and juicy.
ASIAN PEARS
Yoi: Brown skinned Asian pear. Sweet, crisp and juicy. Butterscotch and spice undertones.
EUROPEAN PEARS
D'anjou Pear: Sweet and juicy European pear. Enjoyed when it is a little firm. Can be eaten out of hand or sliced into cereal or yogurt. May be poached or used in baking. Skin remains on the green side. Ready to eat when neck area begins to soften.
POMEGRANATES
White Pomegranates: The actual name of this variety is unknown. Kichitaro Kawano, founder of this orchard, planted it over 100 years ago. The name has been lost. Yellow skin over pink arils. The seeds are sweet with a smaller core than other pomegranates. Pink juice does not stain.
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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.
Summer Squash:
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.
Lemon cucumber: Small, round, green, tender cucumber unless I wait too long to pick it and it becomes yellow and seedy.
Green beans
Bell peppers
Okra
Here is what we have from other producers:
Sunnyslope Farm in Granite Bay, Conventional practices.
Fuji apples: Sweet arnd crisp with red blush over green skin. Very juicy.
La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens. Limited supply.
Fresh Bouquets:
of colorful in-season flowers from La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. (Limited supply.)
Kijani Farm in Granite Bay. No spray practice:
Butternut Squash: Sweet nutty winter squash. Orange flesh is concentrated in the neck of this squash.
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