Otow Orchard Fruit Stand

Oranges & Grapefruit

2012-02-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

Ume branches in bloom (Japanese sour plum)

Blood oranges and grapefruit are now picked and at the fruit stand. If you like soft persimmons, we have the very last ones of the season now. We're still selling hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon) at the fruit stand and through mail order, while supplies last. Maybe hoshigaki would make a good Valentines or Chinese new year gift?

The next delivery for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club will be at our orchard from 4:00 - 5:00 on Friday, Feb. 17th. Orders need to be received by Fri., Feb. 10th at 5:00. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local naturally grown pork and lamb, grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs, honey and other local products.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Mandarins--owari satsuma
Navel Oranges
Blood Oranges
Lemons
Kiwi
Hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon)
Soft Persimmons
Perfectly Persimmon Cookbook--1004 persimmon recipes by Jean Brine
Placer County Real Food Cookbook--by Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny
Eggs

Winter Orchard News

2012-01-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

We picked the first lemons and kiwi and now have them for sale at the fruit stand. The very last hoshigaki is finishing drying in the last drying room. We're still taking mail orders for hoshigaki and we have some for sale at the fruit stand.

At the end of last week, we finally got a few days of heavy rain, the first major rain of the winter. Hopefully the rainfall will catch up to at least the usual amount this year. Just before the rain it got unusually cold, as you can see in the photo. We had to turn on the irrigation to help protect the citrus from frost, and the spray froze and made interesting patterns. The ice is supposed to insulate the trees and raise the temperature a few degrees. The first trees are flowering right now, too. Both the white and pink flowering ume (Japanese plum) started blossoming, and the loquat (biwa) is almost finished.

Sadly, our rooster was carried away by a coyote and eaten. On one of the windy, rainy days my daughter heard what she thought sounded like a goose fighting with the chickens by the garden. She looked to see what was going on and saw a coyote carrying the squawking rooster in its mouth and then taking off through the orchard. The photo in the previous post shows "Blue" the blue Orpington rooster by the edge of the garden where the coyote took him away.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Mandarins--owari satsuma
Kiwi
Lemons
Navel Oranges
Hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon)
Persimmons--Hachiya, Fuyu, Maru (chocolate), Hyakume (all soft now)
Pomegranates--white variety
Perfectly Persimmon Cookbook--1004 persimmon recipes by Jean Brine
Placer County Real Food Cookbook--by Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny
2012 Master Gardeners Calender
Eggs

Meat Buyers Club & Late Mandarins & Persimmons

2012-01-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

Chickens in the orchard by a mandarin tree.

New at the fruit stand now are navel oranges. Grapefruit and kiwi should be coming soon. We still have lots of mandarins at the fruit stand, including owari satsuma and another orange-red variety of satsuma. Both are sweet and easy to peel mandarins, the difference is that the orange-red satsuma variety is darker on the outside and less acidic.

Surprisingly, there's still a good supply of persimmons at the fruit stand. We have soft hachiya, firmer vodka-treated hyakume, fuyu and maru ('chocolate') persimmons. Since both persimmons and mandarins ripened late this year, they're available later than usual.

In late December KCRA channel 3 News came to visit the orchard to do a story on hoshigaki (Japanese hand dried persimmons). You can see a slide show on the KCRA website. The Nikkei West newspaper visited too and has an article about hoshigaki and Otow Orchard on the front page of the current issue.

The last hoshigaki is drying and we're down to only one drying room full now. We still need to check on the hoshigaki to see how they're drying and massage them every few days until they're finished. Shoko has been busy packing them up and sending out mail orders. We're still taking hoshigaki orders for pick up at the fruit stand and by mail order, too.

The next delivery for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club will be at our orchard from 4:00 - 5:00 on Friday, Jan. 20th. Orders need to be received by Fri., Jan. 13th at 5:00. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local naturally grown pork and lamb, grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs and honey. New this month are mandarins, navel oranges, meyer lemons and mandarin sauces. Monthly deliveries are at our orchard in Granite Bay, Community Ink in Truckee, Confluence Kitchen in Auburn and Sinclair Family Farm in Penryn.

Happy New Year

2011-12-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

An old metal tag left in a persimmon tree.

The fruit stand will be closed for New Year's on January 1st and 2nd. We'll open again on Tuesday, January 3rd, with regular hours. We remain open through out the winter and spring, from 9-6 Tuesday through Saturday, and 10-5 on Sunday. Mondays we are closed.

We're still have hoshigaki for sale at the fruit stand, as well as through mail order. When we stop taking orders we'll post it here on the website.

Mandarins & Persimmons

2011-12-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

Chris and her son Toshio check which persimmons
are ready for massaging.

We have owari satsuma mandarins now at the Fruit stand. Owari satsuma mandarins are sweet, juicy and usually seedless with a thin, easy to peel skin. The crop was ready later than usual, like most of the other types of fruit have been this year.

We're still taking orders for hoshigaki through mail order and for pick up at the fruit stand. If you'd like to pick up more than a pound of hoshigaki at the fruit stand, please call us ahead of time.

We stopped peeling new persimmons late last week because most of the hachiya had gotten too soft to peel. Since we're not able to peel and start any new persimmons for the hoshigaki drying process, the persimmons left drying now make up the end of this year's hoshigaki supply. In the colder weather, the persimmons take longer to dry, so we expect to be drying these last persimmons at least into the middle of January. Next year sometime in October we'll begin the process again.

Around the fruit stand we've been very busy taking care of numerous customers and massaging and packaging hoshigaki. Out in the orchard most of the fruit besides the citrus has been picked and winter pruning and irrigation repair work has started. If you come and take a walk through the orchard you'll see flocks of geese and other birds visiting the trees trying to find un-picked persimmons. Wind and cold weather has made most of the leaves drop, so you can see through the bare trees down to the strawberry field.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Mandarins--owari satsuma
Persimmons--Fuyu, Maru & Nagamaru (chocolate), Vodka-treated Hyakume, Hachiya, Gyombo, Hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon)
Apples--Pippen, Granny Smith
Pomegranate--white variety
Winter Squash--butternut, kabocha, red kuri, buttercup, spaghetti squash, pie pumpkin
Local Honey--from bees at our orchard & star thistle honey from Lincoln
Perfectly Persimmon Cookbook--1004 persimmon recipes by Jean Brine
Placer County Real Food Cookbook--by Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny
2012 Master Gardeners Calender
Eggs

Christmas Hoshigaki, Local Trees & Meat

2011-12-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

We can't guarantee Christmas delivery on any hoshigaki mail orders postmarked after December 1st. We're still taking mail orders but we can't promise that we'll be able to ship out any new orders and have them arrive at the customer or gift recipient address by Dec. 25th. If you want to give hoshigaki as a Christmas gift, an option would be to let the person know the order is in and request on the mail order form that we mail the order to the gift recipient directly. We'll do everything we can to get your order out as soon as possible.

Hoshigaki is still for sale at our fruit stand. Please call ahead if you'd like to pick up more than a pound at one time so we can set it aside for you.

The next delivery from the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club at our orchard will be Friday, Dec. 16th from 4:00-5:00. Orders must be sent in by 5:00 PM Friday, Dec. 9th. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local grass-fed, hormone free beef, lamb, pork and chicken, as well as eggs, honey, kiwi, mandarin products, and the Placer County Real Food Cookbook. Orders are made online and then you choose one of four locations to pick up your order. Locations are Otow Orchard (in Granite Bay), Sinclair Family Farm (in Penryn), Confluence Kitchen (in Auburn) and Community Ink (in Truckee).

The Koyama Tree Farm next door to the orchard is selling Christmas trees this coming weekend and the next only. The dates are Dec. 3rd and 4th, and Dec. 10th and 11th. Hours are from 9-4. These are the only days they'll be open for the season. You can choose and cut your own tree. Info about their farm and other local Christmas tree farms is at the PlacerGrown website.

Busy with Hoshigaki

2011-11-28T09:28:00.000-08:00

This past week the hoshigaki drying process slowed a bit because of a few days of rain and a string of foggy mornings. As a result, the persimmons have filled up the drying rooms and we even ran out of sticks to hang the freshly peeled ones on. Tosh has been making new drying racks and sticks to try to accomodate all the kaki. We converted the cool room that we use when it's warmer for refrigeration into a drying room, so now we have all the possible inside rooms being used for drying.

The freshly peeled persimmons are first hung on sticks on the outside racks until they're dry enough to massage. Then the sticks are usually moved into the hot house, which is a small building used like a green house where we can open the doors and windows and and adjust the temperature and air circulation. As the sticks of hoshigaki get dryer they're moved through two other drying rooms, then to the final drying and packing room. In each room the hoshigaki are massaged to help them dry evenly and remain soft. In the photo at the left you can see freshly peeled persimmons hung on sticks on the outside racks, the hot house is on the right.

Tosh making a new rack

We're still peeling persimmons to start new hoshigaki because the persimmons are still hard enough to peel. Soon we'll need to stop peeling because the persimmons will either be mostly too ripe to dry well or the weather will be too cool or damp for them to dry well. Right now we're still taking orders for pick up at the fruit stand or mail order. If you'd like to pick up more than a pound of hoshigaki at out fruit stand, it's a good idea to call ahead.

When we need to stop taking orders we'll post it here on our web site.

Fuyus & Hoshigaki

2011-11-21T10:36:00.000-08:00

We've been very busy with persimmons lately. We have boxes and boxes of fuyus and hachiyas that we have to find space for, and now the outside rack and inside drying rooms are filled with sticks of hoshigaki in various stages. We're still peeling new hachiya and gyombo persimmons to dry, since there are some still hard enough to peel and the weather is still holding up for drying. The trees are colorful with red, orange and yellow leaves, and it's a good time to visit and take a walk if you can. It's probably the peak of fuyu persimmon season right now. We have firm fuyus for sale by the bag at the fruit stand. We're still taking mail orders for hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon) and accepting orders by phone for pick up at the fruit stand. If you'd like to buy more than a pound of hoshigaki it's a good idea to call ahead.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons--Fuyu, Maru, vodka-treated Hyakume, Hachiya, Hoshigaki
Apples--Fuji, Pippen, Golden Delicious
Asian Pear--Okusankichi
Pomegranate--white and red varieties
Winter Squash--buttercup, kabocha, red kuri, spaghetti squash, pie pumpkin
Pumpkins & Gourds
Vegetables--green tomatoes, herbs
Local Honey--from bees at our orchard & star thistle honey from Lincoln
Eggs
Perfectly Persimmon Cookbook--1004 persimmon recipes by Jean Brine
Placer County Real Food Cookbook--by Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny
2012 Master Gardeners Calender

Vodka Persimmons

2011-11-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

We now have finished hyakume vodka-treated persimmons at the fruit stand. These persimmons are large, yellow-orange and sweet with a mango-like texture. Each hyakume persimmon has been treated with a few drops of vodka to cause a chemical reaction in the persimmon that changes the astringency (tannic acid) to sweetness (fructose). Hyakume persimmons are a "pollination-variant non-astringent" type of persimmon that are naturally sweet when pollinated, though not all of the fruits get pollinated. For more details on this, see the post "How to Eat a Persimmon".

If you'd like to order hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon), it's important to get your order in as soon as possible. It looks like this year's supply will be smaller than last year's, so at some point we'll have to stop taking new orders. If you want to order hoshigaki through mail order, please mail in the order form soon. If you'd like to order hoshigaki to pick up at the fruit stand, please call us as soon as you can.

The Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers club will make a delivery at our orchard on Friday, Nov. 18th. Through the Meat Buyers club you can order local and naturally produced beef, pork, lamb, chicken, eggs and honey online, then pick up your order at our orchard, at Community Ink in Truckee, or at Confluence Kitchen in Auburn. Orders need to be received by Friday, Nov. 11th at 5:00 PM.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons--Fuyu, Maru, Hyakume, Hachiya
Apples--Fuji, Mutsu, Golden Delicious
Asian Pear--Okusankichi
Pomegranate--white variety
Winter Squash--butternut, kabocha (various types), red kuri, buttercup, spaghetti squash, pie pumpkin
Pumpkins & Gourds (at the fruit stand and at the pumpkin patch)
Vegetables--tomatoes, peppers, oregano, mint
Local Honey--from bees at our orchard & star thistle honey from Lincoln
Eggs
Placer County Real Food Cookbook--by Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny
2012 Master Gardeners Calender

Community Events

2011-10-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, Oct. 23rd, there's a Farm-to-Table Dinner at the local Lone Buffalo Vineyards featuring local seasonal foods, including produce from our orchard. There will be vineyard tours, and a six course dinner put on by Source Global Tapas restaurant. Click here for more information and to register.

The weekend of Nov. 11th and 12th will be busy for us, because we'll be demonstrating hoshigaki (Japanese traditional hand-dried persimmon) at two different locations. On Saturday, Nov. 11th from 10-2 we'll be talking about persimmons and how to make hoshigaki at Bushnell Garden supply in Granite Bay. This is a drop-in event with no need to register ahead.

On Sunday, Nov. 12th from 10-3 we'll be at Twin Peaks Orchard in New Castle for their Fall Harvest Open House. Twin Peaks is an orchard that started about the same time as ours in 1911 and our families have known each other since then. Twin Peaks grows grows a lot of the same fruits we do, including persimmons. Their specialty is amagaki persimmons, which are hyakume persimmon treated so that they're sweet when still firm. We'll be there to demonstrate hoshigaki. For more information, see the Twin Peaks website.

Pumpkins & Persimmons

2011-10-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Topped hachiyas waiting to get peeled.

We have lots of pumpkins and gourds for decorating and carving outside the fruit stand. You can go out to the pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkin, too.

Peeling persimmons for hoshigaki (hand-dried persimmons) began this week. Picking is still slow though, with having to go through a lot of trees to find enough hachiyas ripe enough for peeling to fill a few boxes. We only have limited amounts of hoshigaki to sell at the fruit stand right now because we just started this year's season. After peeling, each persimmon takes around six weeks to dry and become hoshigaki. If you want to order hoshigaki by mail order, check the Oct. 3rd post for more information. To eat a fresh hachiya persimmon, it has to look like a water balloon and be the texture of jello. There are a few hard hachiyas for sale in the fruit stand now, but not yet a very big supply.

We picked the first fuyu persimmons this week. The first ones picked are yellow-orange and crisp, not dark orange and juicy like they will be a few weeks later. Fuyu persimmon is also called "apple persimmon" because it's sweet to eat when firm like an apple. We're continuing to pick maru persimmon, too. Maru is the earliest type of persimmon we have. Maru is also called "chocolate" persimmon because if it was pollinated the fruit will be brown inside and sweet to eat when firm. As the weather gets colder, all of the persimmons should ripen more quickly.

People are welcome to visit the orchard and see the persimmons drying. We're open Tues. through Sat., 9-6 and Sun. from 10-5. We're closed only on Mondays. If you want to visit the orchard for an organized group tour, please call ahead to schedule a time. Other groups have already arranged times to come, and we want to be able to give everyone good attention. Because we're a small farm with only a few workers, we need to know ahead of time to have enough staff available to help out.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Pumpkins (at the fruit stand and at the pumpkin patch)
Persimmons--Maru, Fuyu, Hachiya
Apples--Fuji, Mutsu, Golden Delicious
Asian Pear--Shinko, Olympic
Pomegranate--white variety
Jujube
Vegetables--tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash,eggplant, peppers, basil, oregano, mint
Winter Squash--butternut, kabocha (various types), red kuri, buttercup, spaghetti squash, pie pumpkins
Organic Winter Vegetable Seedlings
Local Honey--star thistle honey from Lincoln
Eggs

Persimmon Show on CA Gold Oct. 13th

2011-10-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

Helen and her grandson, Toshio at the start of hoshigaki season in a previous year. Helen is peeling and Toshio is stringing the fruits so they can hang on a stick to dry.

The show Huell Howser did about persimmons and making hoshigaki at Otow orchard for the PBS TV show California Gold will air this Thursday, Oct. 13th on PBS stations around California. A few years ago, he and the show's crew came and spent part of a day interviewing and filming Helen, Chris and Tosh about drying persimmons. Since then the show has aired a few times a year. Here are the stations and times:

KVIE/ Sacramento, Thurs., 10/13 @8:30 PM
KCET/ Los Angeles, Thurs., 10/13 @ 7:30 PM
KVPT / Fresno, Thurs., 10/13 @ 8:30 PM
KVCR / San Bernadino, Thurs., 10/13 @ 8:30 PM, Sun., 10/16 @ 8:30 PM

We have maru, the earliest variety of persimmon, picked and at the fruit stand now. Maru is a pollination-variant type of persimmon that is sweet when firm if it's pollinated, but puckery if it's un-pollinated. It's also called chocolate persimmon, because the pollinated fruits are brown inside.

We haven't yet started peeling the first hachiya persimmons for drying, because they're still a bit too green on the trees. The outside and inside drying racks have been put up, kaki sticks and fans are cleaned and ready to be used, and we're waiting for the fruit to become orange enough to peel. Once a persimmon is peeled, it takes around six weeks to finish drying and become hoshigaki. We sell hoshigaki (dried persimmon) by mail order, or if you're in the area you can stop by the fruit stand and pick up an order. To order to pick up at the fruit stand, please call or email us.

2011 Mail Order Form

2011-10-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

The new 2011 Hoshigaki Mail Order Form is now posted here on the website, under the "Hoshigaki/Persimmons" tab. If you'd like to mail order hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon) this year, please print out the order form and mail it back to us.

Out in the orchard the hachiya persimmons are still slightly green, so we haven't started peeling any yet for hoshigaki. The hachiyas need to be fully orange, but still hard to be able to peel in order to start the drying process. After peeling, each fruit takes around six weeks to dry, depending on the weather. The peeled fruits are hung by their stems in pairs and massaged every few days to help them to dry evenly. By the end of the drying process, each persimmon has developed a dusting of natural powdered sugar on its surface, and is soft and sweet.

Please keep in mind that because of these natural processes and weather variables, orders may take 8 to 10 weeks to ship. It's important to get your order in as soon as possible, because supplies are limited to what we can produce while the weather permits.

Apples & Pumpkins

2011-10-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

We have lots of varieties of apples right now, including Fuji, Crispin, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and Northern Spy. We also picked lots of winter squash and pumpkins. There are some pumpkins already picked and at the fruit stand and a pumpkin patch where people can go out to and pick their own pumpkin. Peas and Harmony has some organic winter vegetable seedlings for sale at the orchard, too. There are broccoli, beets, Swiss chard, lettuce, mizuna, mustard, onions, thyme and other seedlings ready to be planted now into winter gardens.

Persimmons are not quite ready yet, only a few maru have been picked so far. People say that cold weather ripens persimmons, so maybe this week's cooler temperatures will speed up the ripening. We're expecting the first rain since June during the week this week, too. It's a bit early for rain but the weather's been unusual this year.

The next delivery from the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club will be at our orchard from 3:30- 5:00 on Friday, Oct. 21st. Orders need to be received online by Friday, Oct. 14th at 5:00. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local naturally grown pork and lamb, grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs and honey. The Placer County Real Food Cookbook can be ordered and delivered through the Meat Buyers Club, too. Monthly deliveries are at our orchard in Granite Bay, at Community Ink in Truckee and at Confluence Kitchen in Auburn.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Pumpkins (at the fruit stand and at the pumpkin patch)
Apples--Fuji, Crispin (Mutsu), Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Northern Spy
Asian Pear--Shinko, New Century, 20th Century, Olympic
Plums--Angelina
European Pear--Comice
Figs--Black Mission
Quince
Jujube
Vegetables--tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash,eggplant, long beans, peppers, basil, oregano, mint
Winter Squash--butternut, kabocha (various types), red kuri, buttercup, spaghetti squash, pie pumpkins
Organic Winter Vegetable Seedlings
Local Honey--from bees at our orchard, star thistle honey from Lincoln
Eggs

Beginning of Fall

2011-09-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

Green hachiya persimmons

In the orchard some of the first persimmons are starting to develop an orange blush and begin to ripen. The pomegranates are coloring up, too. We started picking the winter squash in the gardens and although some of the pumpkins and gourds look ready to cut, the weather seems too hot still to try to harvest and store very many of them.

At the end of this month we'll post the 2011 hoshigaki (Japanese hand dried persimmon) mail order form so that we can begin taking orders for hoshigaki. We'll post here on the blog when the official order form is finished and available on our website.

New things we have at the fruit stand are jujube, quince, and olympic Asian pears. We have limited quantities of jujube and quince though, since we only have a few of these trees and picking just started.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Asian Pear--Yoi, Shinko, New Century, 20th Century, Olympic
Plums--Casselman, Angelina
European Pear--Comice, D'anjou
Apples--Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Northern Spy, Fuji
Figs--Black Mission, Brown Turkey
Quince
Jujube
Vegetables--tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, long beans, peppers, zucchini, summer squash, basil, oregano, mint
Honey--from bees at our orchard, star thistle honey from Lincoln
Eggs

This summer, Girl Scouts from the local Granite Bay troop volunteered to paint the fence around the horse pasture as part of a local sustainability project they were working on. Earlier in the year they had visited the orchard for a tour and to talk with Tosh about local agriculture. They were very enthusiastic and hard-working, and we're thankful that they could help us out.

Orchard News & Meat Buyers Club

2011-09-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

After picking tomatoes.

We have a nice crop of black mission and kadota figs right now. We go check the fig trees each day for ripe figs and try to find ways to keep the birds away. This year some it seems that some of the birds have figured out how to get under the nets we put over the trees, so we're going to try adding hanging CD's and see if it deters some of them. The CD's glint in the sun and maybe frighten away birds.

The nearly 100 degree temperatures this week have helped ripen tomatoes out in the gardens, so we have a lot to pick still. Usually by this time of year the tomato harvest is winding down. We've been spending nights and days off canning and freezing extra tomatoes. Chris has been sun-drying tomatoes and figs on trays lately, too, since the weather has been warm.

Heirloom tomatoes--persimmon, Berti, manyel, Andrew Reinhart's Gold, Giant Belgium, Dagma's perfection and black prince (clockwise from upper right). Figs are sun-drying in the background.

The next delivery date from the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club will be at our orchard on Friday, Sept. 23rd from 3:30-5:00. Orders must be sent in by 5:00 PM Friday, Sept. 16th. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local grass-fed, hormone free beef, lamb, and chicken, as well as eggs, honey and the Placer County Real Food Cookbook. Orders are made online and then you choose one of three locations to pick up your order. Locations are Otow Orchard (in Granite Bay), Confluence Kitchen (in Auburn) and Community Ink (in Truckee).

Nashi

2011-08-31T08:34:00.000-07:00

We have many varieties of Asian pears (or nashi) ripe at the orchard now. Asian pear varieties we have are hosui, (an early, juicy brown variety), yoi and shinko which are light brown, sweet, crisp and juicy. We also have New Century and 20th Century Asian pears. Both are larger round yellow varieties, with 20th Century being more green-yellow when ripe and very crisp. Asian pears are supposed to be eaten when they're crisp like an apple, rather than soft like European pears. They're very refreshing and juicy, especially if you eat them from the refrigerator on a hot day. They can also be used fresh in salads or cooked like European pears and apples in pies and other desserts.

We still have lots of tomatoes coming in from the gardens, too. This year heirloom tomatoes grew well in the unusual weather, so we have a lot more than usual. If you need tomatoes for canning or freezing we still have a good supply.

Along with honey from bees at our orchard, we now have star thistle honey from Lincoln at the fruit stand, too.

At the fruit stand we have:

Asian Pear--Hosui, Kosui, Yoi, Shinko, New Century, 20th Century
Plums--Casselman, Kelsey, Friar, Laroda
European Pear--Bartlett
Apples--Red Delicious, Golden Delicious
Figs--Kadota, Black Mission
Grapes--Thompson
Vegetables--tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, long beans, peppers, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, basil, oregano, mint
Honey--from bees at our orchard, starthistle honey from Lincoln
Eggs

Faye Elberta Peaches, Casselman Plums

2011-08-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

New fruits at the orchard are Asian Pears, Faye Alberta peaches, Casselman plums, and fresh figs. Casselman plums are purple-red on the outside and yellow-orange, juicy and tangy sweet on the inside. They're the last major type of plum we pick at the orchard. We're getting towards the end of peach season with Faye Elbertas and moving on to more fall fruits with the first varieties of Asian pears (Hosui and Kikusui). Bartlett pears have been picked, too. We harvested a small supply of white Kadota figs and expect Black Mission figs a little later on.

In the gardens the tomatoes seem to be at their peak. The tomatoes that hung hung green on the vines so long this summer are now ripening quickly. The Fruit Stand is full of all types and sizes of tomatoes, including cherry, paste and heirloom varieties.

Now is a good time to put in orders for tomatoes and peaches for canning or freezing. We also have "seconds", which are damaged fruit and tomatoes that sell for less, but don't look as nice and have spots that you may have to cut out.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Peaches--Faye Elberta, Alamar
Plums--Casselman, Kelsey, Friar, Laroda, Eldorado
Asian Pear--Hosui, Kikusui
European Pear--Bartlett
Figs--Kadota
Vegetables--tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, long beans, sweet peppers, zucchini, summer squash, tomatillos, Swiss chard, basil, oregano, mint
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Full in the Fruit Stand

2011-08-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

We have so many varieties of plums right now that there's hardly space for them inside the fruit stand. They all have different flavor, texture, sweetness, and color. Kelsey, one of the varieties we've just started picking, is large, green and heart-shaped with a yellow inside. Kelsey plums are sweet and sour tasting while they're very green, then as they soften and start to turn yellow and then red they become sweeter and juicier. Satsuma is a small sweet firm plum that's with red skin and flesh. Black Amber and Friar are large, black-skinned and juicy with a yellow inside. Santa Rosa is red-skinned, fragrant and tangy-sweet, while Laroda is purple-skinned and tangy-sweet. Eldorado is small, and sweet even while firm, with a purple skin and dark yellow inside.

Since the weather here has been cooler this year, blackberries are still in season. Normally the berries have dried up by the middle to end of July, but this year the berries flowered and had fruit later.

Eggplants, zucchini, summer squash, and cucumbers are growing well in the gardens and thankfully the tomatoes have finally started ripening fast enough so that we can harvest more than a few a day. We still have a limited amount of tomatoes compared to what we'd expect to have at this time of the summer. Last year I complained about how late the tomato season started, but this year it's been a month later than that, so I think I should stop complaining. At least now we have enough tomatoes to be able to put them out in the fruit stand.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Peaches--Suncrest, Gene Alberta, 49'er, Elegant Lady (all yellow freestone varieties); Sugar Lady, Babcock, Silver Logan (all white freestone varieties)
Plums--Kelsey, Black Amber, Friar, Satsuma, Eldorado, Laroda, Santa Rosa
Pluots--Dapple Dandy
Blackberrries
Vegetables--Cucumber (Japanese, lemon, Armenian), Eggplant (Ichiban, Listada de Gandia, Rosa Bianca), tomatoes, green beans (Kentucky Wonder), long beans, hot peppers, zucchini, summer squash, trombetta squash, Swiss chard, basil, oregano, mint
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Suncrest Peaches & White Peaches

2011-07-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

A Suncrest Peach.

We now have Suncrest peaches ripe at the orchard. Suncrest peaches are a sweet, juicy yellow heirloom peach that are difficult to find. Since they don't ship well or keep for an extended period of time, they aren't sold in major grocery stores. We can sell soft and ripe Suncrest at the fruit stand because the peaches are picked into boxes and brought directly to the fruit stand, there's no need for packing and shipping.

Saving Suncrest peaches and his family farm is the subject of the David Mas Masumoto's book, Epitaph for a Peach--Four Seasons on My Family Farm. David Masumoto has written a lot of other good books related to his farm and his family history that are worth reading, too.

We also have a lot of white peaches at the fruit stand right now, including Babcock, Nectar, White Lady, Arctic White and Donut peaches. White peaches have less acid than yellow peaches, so they have less tangy-ness and more sweetness comes through in their flavor. Ripe white peaches are also difficult to ship, because they're very delicate and show damage easily.

A Suncrest peach on the left, an Arctic White peach on the right.

Fruit Stand & Meat Buyers Club

2011-07-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

The Massey Ferguson 135, parked in front of a Bartlett pear tree. It still runs and gets used at the orchard.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Peaches--Flavor Crest, Red Haven, (yellow free-stone varieties); Babcock, White Lady, "Donut" type (white free-stone varieties)
Plums--Santa Rosa, Frontier, Satsuma
Blackberries
Vegetables--zucchini, summer squash, green beans, eggplant, cucumbers (Japanese and Lemon), Swiss chard, herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, mint)
Eggs
Local Honey--from bees at our orchard

The next delivery from the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club will be at our orchard from 3:30- 5:00 on Friday, July 22nd. Orders need to be received online by Friday, July 15th at 5:00. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local naturally grown pork and lamb, grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs and honey. The Placer County Real Food Cookbook can be ordered and delivered through the Meat Buyers Club, too. Monthly deliveries are at our orchard in Granite Bay, at Community Ink in Truckee and at Confluence Kitchen in Auburn.

Orchard Update

2011-07-13T09:33:00.001-07:00

A row of winter squash with buckwheat.

We have a lot of peaches and plums now. The peaches tend to grow bigger and be more flavorful as we pass from the middle to later varieties of the summer. The peach varieties we're picking now are Red Haven and Flavor Crest. We also picked the first blackberries this week, which illustrates how the unusually cool weather has affected our crops. Usually blackberries have dried up and we're through picking them by this time. Out in the orchard the last of the pomegranate blossoms are flowering with red trumpet-like flowers, the jujube have clusters of tiny yellow-green flowers and persimmon fruits are still small, green and hard on the trees.

In my garden this past week I cut down some of the buckwheat that was interplanted with the winter squash. I planted the buckwheat during the last few weeks of May, then planted the winter squash in the buckwheat seedlings at the beginning of June. The buckwheat acts as both a cover crop and as a living mulch. Every week or so I've been weeding the rows and trimming any buckwheat that shades the squash seedlings too much. The buckwheat stalks are laid down as mulch around the squash plants, and I leave some of the buckwheat growing if it's not going to interfere with the growth of the squash. Throughout the season, the buckwheat resprouts and reseeds itself as the winter squash plants grow. Now the squash plants are big enough that I shouldn't have to weed the rows anymore, because the squash will shade out weeds.

We're still waiting for a bigger tomato harvest. So far each garden has produced only a few ripe tomatoes. The first eggplants and cucumbers are ready from the gardens and with the cooler weather it looks like we'll be able to harvest beans for a while still.

Blenheim Apricots & Santa Rosa Plums

2011-06-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Black Beauty, Dark Green, Kusa, Success PM Straightneck & Goldy varieties of zucchini

We now have apricots and new varieties of plums and peaches ripe at the orchard, and zucchini is ready from the gardens. You can still pick up ume (Japanese plum), too.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Plums--Santa Rosa, red beaut, Frontier
Peaches--Bon Jour, Flavor Crest (yellow free-stone varieties)
Apricots--Patterson, Blenheim
Oranges--Valencia (juice oranges)
Vegetables--zucchini, Swiss chard, red onions and herbs (basil, rosemary, oregano, mint)
Local Honey--(from bees living at our orchard)
Eggs

Ume

2011-06-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

As the ume ripen, they have a pink blush, then turn yellow.

We have a supply of fresh ume at the fruit stand now. Ume is a small sour type of Japanese plum that is preserved to make umeboshi and other types of Japanese pickles and condiments. Umeboshi (pickled ume) are sometimes put in the center of rice balls (onigiri). Ume is very fragrant, sour, sweet and usually salty. Ume fruit is actually more closely related to an apricot than a plum, and the tree is the first of the year to blossom in January.

Helen makes umeboshi most every year using a process that involves pressing the fruits and salt in a container with a heavy weight on top, drying the preserved ume in the sun on a cloth for a few days and then putting them in liquid again with purple shiso (perilla). Customers who have ordered ume in past years have brought us samples of what they've made, too. We've gotten to taste ume pickled in different ways, ume flavored miso, ginger preserved in ume pickling juice (beni shoga), and ume flavored shoyu, all of which are very delicious. Most years we sell out of ume so we don't write about it on the website, but this year our neighbors the Koyamas brought us a lot from their trees, so we have enough to mention. If you want to order ume, you can call the orchard at (916) 791-1656 or stop by the fruit stand.

Red Beauts and Biwa

2011-06-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

The first plums of the season are finally ready. Red Beaut plums are the first plums of all the varieties in the orchard to ripen. As you can see in photo of the Red Beaut at the left, they're red with slight mottling on the skin and yellow and juicy inside.

The loquat (or biwa) are ready now, too. Loquats are a sweet yellow-orange tropical fruits that grow in bunches on the tree. In the center are two smooth dome-shaped brown seeds that split apart. Loquats are hard to find fresh, but you can find them canned at Asian markets.

Viviano and a loquat

In the garden the first zucchinis are almost ready, so we should have enough to pick soon.

At the fruit stand we have cherries, Red Beaut plums, loquats, pink and yellow grapefruit, Valencia oranges, Swiss chard, herbs (oregano, mint, rosemary), honey from bees at the orchard and eggs.

Cherries

2011-05-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

The first cherries are ready at the orchard. These are the first new fruits of the summer season. At the fruit stand you can find both red and yellow Royal Anne cherries in limited supplies.

We still have Valencia oranges, white grapefruit, Swiss chard, fresh herbs, honey and eggs, too.

Hail, Lacewings & Praying Mantises

2011-05-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

We've been having strange weather lately with hail and rain last weekend and yesterday it rained heavily all afternoon. At the left you can see the view looking out from the fruit stand during last weekend's hailstorm. Hail almost the size of peas is collecting in the hay by the flowers. Leaves of plants in the gardens were damaged, but not too badly. We'll have to wait and see what the hail did to the fruit on the trees because the marks won't show until the fruit grows bigger.

In the orchard we have been finishing thinning persimmon blossoms and checking and fixing the irrigation. Chris and Michie have been continuing to sprinkle lacewing eggs on the trees. The eggs are supposed to hatch into lacewing larvae that will prey upon caterpillers of various orchard pests.

The gardens are all planted for summer vegetables now. We've been spending time weeding and mulching. Next to plant will be Winter squash and pumpkins. When I put tomato cages around the plants this year I noticed quite a few praying mantis egg cases attached to the wire. This weekend I saw that one had opened and tiny praying mantises were climbing all around the cage. Below is a photo I tried to take of them.

Late Spring, almost Summer

2011-05-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

Persimmon flowers being visited by bees.

Citrus trees have been blossoming and the wind has been carrying the perfume scent of the flowers around the orchard. Persimmons trees started flowering and bees have been visiting the clusters of small yellowish flowers. When you stand by a citrus or persimmon tree you can hear the bees buzzing. In the orchard we're continuing to mow and to thin fruit from the apple and nashi (Asian pear) trees. Chris has been putting out parasitic trichogramma wasp eggs and lacewing eggs in the trees because they are beneficial insects that prey upon larvae of orchard and garden pests. We finally finished planting summer vegetables and seedlings in the gardens. Because of the late rains and cool weather this spring the gardens got put in later than usual.

We have stopped mail orders for hoshigaki (hand-dried persimmon) until October. The temperatures have now warmed enough that the coating of natural powdery sugar on the outside of the persimmons is at risk of melting during shipping. We have hoshigaki strips and small amounts of hoshigaki for sale by request to pick up at the fruit stand only.

At the fruit stand we also have grapefruit, Valencia oranges, lemons, Swiss chard, fresh herbs (oregano, mint, dill, thyme, lemon balm, rosemary, catnip), local honey from bees at the orchard and eggs. Peas and Harmony has organic tomato, pepper, cucumber, zucchini and melon seedlings for sale at the plant stand.

The next delivery for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club will be at our orchard from 3:30- 5:00 on Friday, May, 20th. Orders need to be received by Mon., May 16th at 5:00. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local naturally grown pork and lamb, grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs and honey. The Placer County Real Food Cookbook can be ordered and delivered through the Meat Buyers Club, too. Monthly deliveries are at our orchard in Granite Bay, at Community Ink in Truckee and at Confluence Kitchen in Auburn.

Spring Planting and Thinning

2011-04-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

Organic vegetable seedlings from Peas and Harmony are now for sale at the fruit stand. There are healthy tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings, basil plants and other herbs in 4 inch pots. We also have oranges, grapefruit, lemons, hoshigaki, eggs and honey at the fruit stand.

At the orchard, wisteria is blooming and green persimmon flower buds are about to pop open. Zucchini, summer squash, beans and cucumber are sprouting in the gardens. We started planting tomato seedlings but are holding off on planting more until the night time temperatures warm up a little. Cherries and ume Japanese plums are getting big, but the fruits are still green. On the peach trees we've been pulling off pink lumpy leaves affected by peach leaf curl and hand-thinning the fruit. Thinning the fruit by leaving only 1 or 2 fruit per small branch allows the tree to put energy into growing less fruits of a bigger size.

If you stop by the fruitstand you may notice a cherry tree by the house by the edge of the parking lot. In the tree is a vinegar trap Chris made to attract and catch spotted wing drosophila (also called cherry vinegar fruit fly). She also tied agribon around a few of the branches and fruit to see if it works to protect the fruit that was not yet affected by the fruit fly. This type of fruit fly is a new pest in Placer County that affected a lot of people's cherry crops for the first time last year.

Spring at the Orchard

2011-04-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

The path leading from the back of the fruit stand to Obaachan's garden.

It seems to have stopped raining for a while, so we've been able to get started thinning the fruit on the trees and planting the vegetable gardens. Although most years it's safe to plant tomatoes by tax day (April 15th) here, this year it still seems too wet and cold. Hopefully next week there will be warm sunny weather for the gardens.

The next delivery date for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club is Friday, April 22nd from 3:30-5:00. Through the Meat Buyers Club you can order locally raised, hormone-free meat, eggs and honey online, then pick it up your order at the orchard. There are other two other delivery sites in Placer County, too, if the orchard isn't convenient. To order for the April 22nd delivery, your order must be sent in before 5:00 PM on Monday, April 18th.

At the fruit stand we have oranges, grapefruit, lemons, kiwi, hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon), honey, and eggs.

Orchard in Bloom

2011-03-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

Viviano pretends to eat a pink peach blossom.

The orchard is now blooming with white and pink blossoms from the peach and plum trees. Come out and visit to take a walk soon, while the blossoms are still out. Next to bloom should be cherry, Asian pear and apple trees, but since there are less of those in the orchard, the blossoming is not as dramatic. Persimmon trees bloom after that with hard to see tiny yellowish-green flowers.

Tree planting and pruning are finished now, so we've been doing other work before the busy season begins. We're starting to prepare the vegetable gardens for next month's planting. Tosh and others have had time to work on remodeling the fruit stand building to finish up the hoshigaki drying room and to improve access to the public restroom.

At the fruit stand we have navel and blood oranges, grapefruit, Eureka lemons, local honey, eggs and hoshigaki (hand-dried persimmon). You can also still order hoshigaki through mail order if you follow the link to the order form here on our web page.

Local Meat, Eggs & Honey

2011-03-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

"Blue", the Blue Orpington rooster.

The next delivery date for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club is Friday, March 25th from 3:30-5:00. Through the Meat Buyers Club you can order locally raised, hormone-free meat, eggs and honey online, then pick it up your order at the orchard. There are other delivery sites in Placer County, too, if the orchard isn't convenient. To order for the March 25th delivery, your order must be sent in before 5:00 PM on Monday, March 21st.

New Trees & the Meat Buyers Club

2011-02-16T06:16:00.000-08:00

In the photo above you can see young trees heeled into the soil that are waiting to be planted in the orchard. We have about 70 fruit trees of various kinds to plant, so we've been looking for spots for them and digging holes for them in the orchard. Our orchard is very mixed, with different types and varieties of fruit trees all interplanted. It's this way because over the years we've been replacing individual dying trees rather than pulling out large blocks of trees and starting with new ones of all the same type and size.

Out in the orchard right now, the pluot and apricot trees are in bloom and most of the peach and plum trees are full of blossoms about to pop. This week we're supposed to wind and rainy weather, so after that orchard should be mostly in bloom and beautiful to visit.

The next delivery date for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club is Friday, Feb. 25th from 3:30-5:00. Through the Meat Buyers Club you can order locally raised, hormone-free meat and eggs online, then pick it up your order at the orchard. There are other delivery sites in Placer County, too, if the orchard isn't convenient. To order for the Feb. 25th delivery, your order must be sent in before 5:00 PM on Monday, February 21st.

Hoshigaki & other fruit at Fruit Stand

2011-02-14T17:39:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, Chris took down the very last two pair of hoshigaki that were drying and got them ready to pack. We've been dealing with the process of drying persimmons since we started peeling the first ones for hoshigaki at the beginning of October, and only now just finished with the last few. We still have hoshigaki available to order through mail order, and for sale at the fruit stand.

The newest fruits in season and for sale at the fruit stand are blood oranges and grapefruit. Other fruits we have are navel oranges, Eureka and Meyer Lemons, Satsuma mandarins and kiwi. We expect that we'll be out of honey until at least April. April is the earliest time honey may be able to be harvested from the bees again, since they're not producing any extra right now in the cold weather. The chickens have been laying eggs though, so we have eggs at the fruit stand.

Winter is Part of the Cycle

2011-01-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

We've had a lot of fog and drizzle lately at the orchard, as you can see in the photo at the left. The birds have eaten the last persimmons left on the trees and the ume plum blossoms are just about to pop open.

At the fruit stand we have lots of juicy mandarins and now navel oranges, too. The soft persimmons are still in supply, as well as kiwi and Meyer lemon. Hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon) is still for sale at the fruit stand and through mail order. The very last hoshigaki we started are almost finished drying.

The next delivery date for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club is this coming Friday, Feb. 4th from 3:30-5:00. Through the Meat Buyers Club you can order locally raised, hormone-free meat and eggs online, then pick it up at the orchard. There are other delivery sites in Placer County, too, if the orchard isn't convenient. The last day to order for the Feb. 4th delivery is Monday, Jan. 31st by 5:00.

In the orchard we've been pruning the trees, digging out dying trees, and getting spots ready to plant new trees. All the tomato plants have finally been pulled out in the gardens, just as we're getting ready to start new ones by seed. The mobile chicken dome is now in the area of the garden where the future tomato seedlings should go in April.

Late Season Surprises

2011-01-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Past the persimmon trees are geese out in the orchard.

We are re-opening the hoshigaki (dried persimmon) orders. After filling all the mail orders we found that we still have a small supply left. Hoshigaki is for sale at our fruit stand and also through mail order. If you'd like to order some through mail order, click here for the order form or go to the hoshigaki/persimmons tab on the web page. If you come to the fruit stand soon, you can see the last of the hoshigaki that's still drying and get an idea of the process.

Soft Hachiya persimmons are in abundance at the fruit stand. If you really like soft Hachiyas, now's the time to get them. They can be eaten fresh or you can freeze them whole and eat them like sorbet later on. The pulp can also be squeezed out and frozen to use for baking later, or to add to yogurt or smoothies.

We were surprised to find that we have some Fuyu persimmons that are still firm this late in the season. Since mandarins were ready so late this year, we still have lots of mandarins at the fruit stand, too, along with the fruits we expect to have now, such as kiwi and Meyer lemon.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons--Hachiya (soft), Fuyu (firm), and hoshigaki (dried persimmon)
Mandarins-Owari Satsuma
Kiwi
Lemons-Meyer

The orchard fruit stand is open year round. Hours are Tues.-Sat. from 9-5 and on Sundays from 10-5. We're closed Mondays.

Mandarins at the Fruit Stand

2010-12-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

We now have Owari Satsuma mandarins for sale at the fruit stand. They're sweet, juicy, usually seedless and easy to peel. Mandarins were very late maturing this year and because of so much rain it's been hard to find a time when they're dry enough to pick. We still have lots of persimmons too, including Hachiya, vodka-treated Hyakume and Fuyu. The Fuyu persimmons are not crisp and hard anymore though, because it's so late in the season for them. Although mail orders for hoshigaki are now being added to a waiting list, we still have small amounts of hoshigaki for sale at the fruit stand.

This week's Sacramento News and Review newspaper has an aricle called "Saveurs of the (almost) Lost Ark" about hoshigaki (dried persimmons) and the Slow Food Ark of Taste. It features Otow Orchard and Penryn Orchard Specialties and talks about how farmers in our area have been trying to preserve the art of making hoshigaki. Hoshigaki is part of the Slow Food Ark of Taste because it's considered a valuable and unique food in danger of not being produced anymore because of modern market pressures.

On Saturday, Dec. 25th, the fruit stand will be closed for Christmas Day.

Hoshigaki Waiting List

2010-12-12T09:34:00.000-08:00

Obaachan massaging with Mizuki, Frisbee and Mocha.

We're sorry to say that any new mail orders for hoshigaki (dried persimmons) for this season will have to be placed on a wait list. We need to fill the orders we've already received and then check if we have any supply left over.

If you'd like to be placed on the hoshigaki wait list, please mail in the order form so we can get your information. We'll then notify you when we know if we can fill your order. We have almost 400 lbs. of hoshigaki orders to fill already, so it may take a while to get to the list if it's possible.

If you are able to come to the orchard, you can still buy small amounts of hoshigaki at the fruit stand. At the fruit stand we have grades A and B, but not premium hoshigaki for sale. Premium has the softest texture and is the grade that gets sold in mail orders.

This year's hoshigaki season had a bit of a late start, and an early finish because of periods of rain and cold. The freezing temperatures around Thanksgiving time and then the rain made us have to end peeling any more persimmons, so what's drying now is all we'll have for this year's supply.

Taking Care of the Kaki

2010-12-06T20:42:00.001-08:00

A bucket of some of the last kaki peelings this season.

At the end of last week we finished peeling persimmons (kaki) to hang and dry for hoshigaki. All the hachiya and gyombo persimmons we use for drying are now too soft to peel, and the weather is too damp and cold for beginning more to dry well. The last kaki that got peeled may take twice as long to dry as those that began in the warmer weather. Now we have to concentrate on taking care of the kaki left drying until they're finished.

We are selling small amounts of hoshigaki at the fruit stand, but if you'd like to pick up larger amounts (more than a few pounds), please call us ahead of time so we can reserve it for you (916-791-1656). At this time, we're still accepting mail orders also. When we determine that we've received hoshigaki orders equivalent to our estimate of what's drying, we'll announce here that we've stopped taking mail orders for the season. To order hoshigaki by mail, print out the order form from the Hoshigaki/Persimmons section of the website, and mail it in with a check.

Colder weather makes the fuyu persimmons start to get soft too, so if you like harder fuyus try to come get them soon. Our mandarins are not quite ready yet, they're ripening late this year. We hope they'll be ready to pick and have at the fruit stand in a week or so.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons--Fuyu, Maru, Hachiya, vodka-treated Hyakume, and limited amounts of hoshigaki (dried persimmon)
Apples--Granny Smith
Asian Pear--Okusankichi (extra large juicy brown variety)
Quince
Walnuts--in the shell
Pecans--in the shell
Winter Squash--Butternut
Pumpkins & Gourds--for decoration or eating
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Local Meat, Eggs & Christmas Trees

2010-12-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

Chickens out in the orchard under a fuyu tree.

Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local grass-fed lamb and beef, pastured poultry and organic eggs online, then pick up your order at our orchard or at one of the other locations in Placer County. New this month are stewing hens and honey from Oregon House Farms. The new order form for December is now online. Pick up time at the orchard is Friday, Dec. 17th, from 3:30-5:00. Orders need to be received by the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club by Monday, Dec. 13th at 5:00 PM.

The Koyama Tree Farm next door to the orchard is selling Christmas trees this coming weekend, Sat. Dec. 11th, and Sun. Dec. 12th. Hours are from 9-4. This is the second and last weekend they'll be open for the season. You can choose and cut your own tree. Info about their farm and other Christmas tree farms is at the PlacerGrown website.

How to Eat a Persimmon

2010-11-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

Maru persimmons left in the tree, probably not yet eaten by birds because they're un-pollinated.

To eat a persimmon, you have to know what type you have and when you should eat it.

Here are the three types of persimmons:

1. Always sweet when firm--
This includes varieties of fuyu persimmons. People usually eat fuyu type persimmons when they're firm, but you can eat this type of persimmon when it's soft, too if you like it that way. Fuyu are sometimes called "apple persimmon" in stores because you can eat them firm like an apple.

2. Always astringent (puckery) when firm, only sweet when very soft--
This includes hachiya and gyombo varieties. This type is always eaten when it's extremely soft. It needs to be as soft as jello and with translucent skin before its astringency is gone and changed to sweetness. If you eat this type of persimmon when it's not as soft as it should be, it gives your mouth a puckery feeling, sometimes to the point that your mouth feels dried out with a lingering numbness like after having novocain. If you've ever done this, you probably remember. The astringency comes from tannic acid in the unripe persimmon, the same type of acid in green bananas and raw acorns.

3. Pollination dependent (sweet when hard if pollinated, but if not pollinated are sweet only when very soft)--
This type includes maru (chocolate) and hyakume (cinnamon) varieties. If this type of persimmon has been pollinated, it is brown inside and the brown parts are sweet when the persimmon is firm. If it wasn't pollinated, the persimmon will be yellow or orange inside and astringent until it's very soft.

How do you know when you can eat a pollination-dependent type of persimmon? One option is to just wait until it's soft, so you know you can eat it whether or not it was pollinated. Another option is to take a risk and cut one open when it's hard to check if it's been pollinated and is edible then. You might find that it's brown inside and therefore sweet and delicious, or that it has no brown parts and now you've wasted the persimmon.

If you know what to look for, you can see clues from this type of persimmon's shape and color that tell you if it's likely to be pollinated. These clues are more visible on some varieties than others. At the orchard we sell maru persimmons when they're firm because the clues to pollination are easier for some of us to tell, but we always explain to the customers that you never truly know how the persimmon is inside until you cut it open.

Helen, who is over 90 years old and has dealt with persimmons all her life, is great at spotting pollinated marus, but she says that hyakume is more difficult to tell. We treat hyakume persimmons with a little bit of vodka to change any astringency they might have to sweetness. After being treated with vodka, the hyakume is always sweet and edible when it's firm. For more detail about this, see the post "Hyakume & Maru Persimmons".

To make hoshigaki (Japanese hand-dried persimmon), we use the second type of persimmon, the type you eat fresh only when soft. We peel hachiya or gyombo when the persimmon is hard and unripe, but with full color. By the end of the drying process, all the astringency has changed to sweetness and some of its fructose has come to the surface as a powdery natural sugar. Theoretically, you could peel and dry any of the three types of persimmons, but we only use this type. Probably this is because the fuyu type is easy to eat fresh, and because pollination-dependent types of persimmons are more fibery and less sweet when dried. Hachiyas and gyombos are larger, stay more orange and turn out to to be the sweetest and softest type to use to make hoshigaki.

Orchard News--Twin Peaks & Huell Howser

2010-11-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Nov. 14th, we will do a hoshigaki demonstration at Twin Peaks Orchard in Newcastle, as part of their Fall Harvest Open House event taking place there. We'll bring drying persimmons in various stages to demonstrate and talk about the drying process. Twin Peaks orchard is a nearby orchard that is also multi-generational and family-owned. Twin Peaks started almost 100 years ago, around the same time as Otow Orchard, and our families have known each other since then. Some of Twin Peaks' specialties are amagaki persimmons and peaches.

In other news, Huell Howser's California Gold will be showing its "Persimmons" episode again where Huell Howser visits Otow Orchard. He talked to Helen, Chris and Tosh and filmed the orchard and learned about how we dry persimmons for hoshigaki. The show will air on KVIE, our local PBS station on Nov. 18th at 9 PM, Nov. 20th at 5 AM and 4 PM and on Nov. 23rd at 7 PM.

Fruit at the Fruit Stand

2010-11-08T10:22:00.000-08:00

The photo at the left is an Asian Pear gallette that Chris made using a recipe from Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny's Placer County Real Food cook book. This is a seasonal cookbook that's very useful for finding ways to use local, seasonal produce. Next to the gallette is an okusankichi Asian pear from the orchard.

It looks like most of the vegetables are finished for the season, since the colder nights lately have been freezing the plants in the gardens. We still have lots of fruit though, with all the varieties of persimmons now ready. We're starting to get a lot of softer hachiya persimmons, and we have vodka-treated hyakume, and a lot of fuyu of various sizes. Fuyu persimmons are for sale by the pound, box or 20 lb. bag.

Limited amounts of hoshigaki (dried persimmons) are now available for sale at the fruit stand, too. If you'd like to buy a larger amount of hoshigaki, it's best to call us and order ahead to arrange for a pick up time. Our phone number is 916-791-1656. If you want to order hoshigaki to be sent to you by mail, you can print out the order form on our website and mail it in to us.

Here's what's for sale at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons--Fuyu, Maru, Hachiya, vodka-treated Hyakume, and limited amounts of hoshigaki (dried persimmon)
Apples--Fuji, Granny Smith
Asian Pear--Okusankichi (extra large juicy brown variety)
Pomegranate--red and white varieties
Quince
Walnuts--in the shell
Winter Squash--Butternut, Acorn, Kabocha, Red Kuri, Spaghetti
Gourds & Pumpkins--for fall decoration or eating
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Hoshigaki & the Weather

2010-11-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sticks of just-peeled kaki under the gyombo tree.

We have been peeling persimmons for hoshigaki (dried persimmons) for the past few weeks. Each morning when we expect good weather, we take the freshly peeled sticks of hanging persimmons out of the buildings to dry in the sun. When the persimmons are at the right texture, we massage them for the first time and then the sticks of persimmons usually stay in the buildings as they dry further.

During the past three weeks we've had about a week of rainy days, so some of the persimmons have been inside the buildings for a longer time than usual. Because of this some of the hoshigaki will take a bit longer than it sometimes does at the beginning of the season. If the weather is very warm and dry in the early fall, the persimmons can take as little as 4 weeks to dry, but the average time is about 6 weeks.

Since making hoshigaki is so weather dependent, we can only make a certain amount each year. As the temperatures get colder, the persimmons eventually become too soft to peel. Right now we're trying to peel as much as possible before this happens. After the persimmons get too soft, we'll have to take care of what's already been peeled and that's all the hoshigaki there will be for that season. In the past few years we have sold out and had to stop taking orders sometime in December. We're not sure when we'll have to stop peeling and taking orders this year yet, we just have to wait and see what happens with the weather.

If you'd like to order hoshigaki to be sent by mail, click above on the "Hoshigaki/Persimmons" tab, or click here to go to directly to the order form. We don't accept credit cards, so the order form has to be printed out and mailed in with a check. If you'd like to pick up hoshigaki at the fruit stand in person, please call us to make an order. Our phone number is (916) 791-7165.

If you come to the orchard you can see the hoshigaki drying process and take a walk in the orchard. You can see trees with ripening persimmons and Asian pears, vegetable gardens, compost piles, chickens and a horse. We're open Tuesday through Saturday from 9-6 and on Sunday from 10-5. On Mondays the orchard is closed.

Fuyu

2010-10-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

Right now the orchard is full of trees with fuyu persimmons turning from light to darker orange. Fuyu persimmons are a type of persimmon that can be eaten when they're firm. You don't have to wait for them to get soft to eat them (like the Hachiya variety), they're sweet and non-astringent when they're hard.

At the orchard we have a four different varieties of fuyu persimmons. We have Jiro, Izu, Giant fuyu, and an older original round fuyu. In general, the fuyu varieties taste similar but have slightly different shapes and sizes. Jiro, Izu and Giant Fuyu are squarish with four separate sections. The older original round fuyu is rounded with a sharp tip at the end. In the photo above you can see the round type of fuyu at the very left, next to one of the square types. At the right is a Hachiya persimmon.

Here's what's at the Fruit Stand now:

Persimmons--Lots of Fuyu and Maru and limited quantities of Hachiya and vodka-treated Hyakume
Apples--Golden Delicious, Fuji, Mutsu, Granny Smith, Pippen
Asian Pear--Olympic and Okusankichi
Pomegranate--white variety
Quince
Jujube
Vegetables--tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, tomatillos
Winter Squash--Red Kuri, Butternut, Delicata, Acorn, Kabocha, Spaghetti
Pumpkins and Gourds--at the fruit stand or pick your own in the pumpkin patch
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Jujube, Gourds & the Fruit Stand

2010-10-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

This year seemed to be a good year for Jujube. Although we have only a few jujube trees, each has a big crop of fruit, so we have lots of jujube at the fruit stand. The photo at the left shows ripe jujube. You can eat jujube when they're light brown and crunchy, or when they get darker reddish brown and drier and their flavor is more concentrated. We've also been picking olives over the past few weeks and have most of them curing now. We now have Quince and white pomegranate at the fruit stand, too.

Last week the first Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers club delivery happened at the orchard. Through the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club you can order local meat, poultry and eggs online, then pick up your order at our orchard or at one of the other locations in Placer County. The new order form for October is now online. The delivery date for the orchard is Friday, Oct. 22nd. Orders need to be received by the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers Club by Monday, Oct. 18th at 5:00 PM.

This coming Sunday, Oct. 10th is Placer Farm and Barn Tour. Placer Farm and Barn tour is a tour of nine working family farms and vineyards in placer county with demonstrations, art, music and activities at the various sites. Otow Orchard isn't a featured site this year, but a few of us are going to help at Pine Valley Ranch in Auburn. To buy tickets for the Placer Farm and Barn Tour, click here. We'll have the fruit stand at the orchard open from 10-5 as usual that day.

At the left is a photo of a volunteer gourd plant that grew up the side of the tomato cages in my garden. This one plant produced over 30 gourds, (more than any plant that I actually planted by seed myself). We have gourds and pumpkins for sale at the fruit stand now. We have a pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkins in again this year, too.

Here's what's at the Fruit Stand now:

Apples--Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Mutsu
Asian Pear--Shinseiki, New Century (yellow varieties) and Shinko, Yoi, Olympic (brown varieties),
European Pear--D'Anjou
Plums--Casselman
Figs--Black Mission, brown variety
Pomegranate--white variety
Quince
Jujube
Grapes--Thompson seedless, Kyoho
Vegetables--tomatoes, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, summer squash, tomatillos, red torpedo onions, herbs
Winter Squash--Red Kuri, Butternut, Delicata, Acorn, Kabocha, Spaghetti
Pumpkins and Gourds--at the fruit stand or pick your own in the pumpkin patch
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

2010 Hoshigaki Orders

2010-09-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

We have the new 2010 order form for hoshigaki (dried persimmons) up on this web site now. If you'd like to order hoshigaki to be sent to you by mail, please order as soon as you can, because we fill your order according to when it was placed. You can find the order form under the "Hoshigaki/Persimmons" tab at the top of the page. To make an order by mail, print out the order form and mail it to us with a check. Sorry, we don't take credit cards.

If you'd like to pick up an order of hoshigaki at the fruit stand, you don't have to fill out the online order form. To arrange to pick up an order at the fruit stand, please email us and tell us what amount you'd like. We'll either write to you or call you back and tell you when we expect it would be ready. If you're able to come out to the orchard yourself to pick up an order, you don't have to pay for shipping, and you can also buy smaller amounts than a pound.

It's important to keep in mind that the process of making hoshigaki is weather dependant. Since we don't know how much sun and heat we get, we don't know ahead of time how much hoshigaki we'll be able to produce. The fruit may ripen more or less quickly and we never know when it will get too soft to peel. In the past few years we've had to stop taking new orders sometime in December. We'll post here on the web site when we can no longer take orders this year.

In the orchard, the persimmons on the trees are starting to have blushes of orange. When they have color, but are still hard, we can start peeling them for making hoshigaki (dried persimmons). It seems like it will be a few more weeks before we will be ready to start peeling the first persimmons, but we'll have to wait and see what the weather brings. After we begin, it will take around 6 weeks for the peeled persimmons to dry and become hoshigaki.

In the photo above you can see fresh, unpeeled hachiya persimmons next to hoshigaki in its finished state. The skin has been peeled, but nothing has been added. The white powder on the outside is natural sugar from inside the fruit that forms on the surface towards the end of the drying process.

Between Peaches and Persimmons

2010-09-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

Right now we are between peach and persimmon seasons, which are the two busiest times of the year. There have been a few weeks of relative quietness at the orchard, giving us time to catch up on some projects. Tosh has spent time lately re-modeling a part of the fruit stand building to make more more room for drying persimmons inside and to have an improved public restroom. He also dug out a spot at the edge of my garden with the back hoe for a new garlic bed.

To make a new garlic bed, I had to make a liner with aviary wire, then fill it back in with layers of compost and soil. We plant the garlic only in the beds lined with wire this way, because otherwise gophers get in and eat most of the garlic. Ideally, garlic shouldn't be planted in the same place for three years, so each year we should be making wire-lined beds for it to be rotated into until we have enough space. We hadn't had time to make new beds for the garlic to be rotated into for a few years though, and it seemed like this year's garlic didn't grow as well. Hopefully this year will be better.

In the photo below you can see the wire liner in the ground, just as it was beginning to be filled in. If you look closely, at the edge of the bed you can see a big difference between the dusty decomposed granite soil that was dug out and the dark fluffy compost. The soil and compost is all filled in now, so this coming weekend we can plant the garlic.

At the Fruit Stand

2010-09-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

At the left you can see a wheelbarrow full of winter squash at the edge of one of the gardens at the orchard. Most of the winter squash has been harvested, so we now have some for sale at the fruit stand. Also new at the fruit stand are Comice pears, Red Torpedo onions, and large brown Olympic Asian pears.

Here's what we have at the Fruit Stand now:

Apples--Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Northern Spy
Asian Pear--Shinseiki, New Century, Yali (yellow varieties) and Shinko, Yoi, Olympic (brown varieties),
European Pear--Comice
Plums--Casselman, Kelsey, Friar
Melons--Ambrosia, Hannah
Figs--Black Mission, brown variety
Grapes--Thompson seedless, Kyoho
Vegetables--tomatoes, eggplant, bitter melon, sweet peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, summer squash, tomatillos, red torpedo onions, herbs
Winter Squash--Red Kuri, Butternut, Delicata
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard
Organic winter vegetable seedlings--from Peas and Harmony

Pick up Local Meat and Eggs at the Orchard

2010-09-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

Otow Orchard is a new delivery site for the Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers club. You can order locally grown and produced meat, poultry and eggs through the club online, then pick up your order at the orchard. The producers are local, family-owned operations. Livestock are raised on Sierra Foothills range and pasture and produced with no hormones or antibiotics. The pasture-raised eggs are certified organic. If the orchard isn't convenient, there are also pick up sites in Auburn, Penryn, Truckee and Lincoln.

The first delivery time at the orchard will be Friday, October 1st, from 3:30 to 5:00 PM. There's no membership fee, but a $4.00 delivery charge is added to your order.

The Sierra Foothills Meat Buyers club is organized by the Placer-Nevada County Extension service. Currently they are selling meat and eggs from Flying Mule Farm, Coffee Pot Ranch, High Sierra Beef and Sinclair Family Farm.

Plant Sale Extended for Sept. 11 & 12

2010-09-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

The remainder of the organic winter vegetable seedlings from last weekend's sale will be at the orchard plant stand this Saturday and Sunday. Peas and Harmony will have winter vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, onions, pak choy, lettuce and Asian greens.

We have lots of nice apples at the fruit stand now. From our orchard we have crunchy Red Delicious apples, and from the neighbouring Koyama farm we have Northern Spy and Golden Delicious apples. We also have lots of ripe brown and Black Mission figs. The peaches we have left are the last of the season firm and sweet cling peaches.

Organic Plant Sale this Coming Weekend

2010-08-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

This Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 4th and 5th), Peas and Harmony will have an organic vegetable and herb plant sale at our orchard.

They'll have Fall and Winter garden plants such as onions, broccoli, cauliflower, mustards, cabbages, lettuce mixes, arugula and Asian greens. For more info about the sale, see peasandharmony.com .

This Fall, we won't have organic plants for sale from Peas and Harmony over an extended period of time. The sale will be just for this weekend. If you need to make arrangements to pick up plants at other times though, you can contact Julie or Alison through the website.

End of Summer, Start of Fall

2010-08-30T13:55:00.001-07:00

We've had amazingly fluctuating weather this past week. On Wednesday it was 108 degrees, then on Saturday the high was 76 degrees with a few sprinklings of rain. It was like July and October in the space of a few days. Towards the end of this week the temperatures are supposed to reach above 100 again.

Because of cool and fluctuating weather during the spring and summer, tomato harvest started very late this year, and seems to be at its peak right now in my garden. Over the weekend I picked lots of boxes of tomatoes, along with the first winter squash. The squash is a bit early, and the tomato peak is about a month late.

In the orchard, Faye Alberta peaches are all picked and we moved on to Rio Oso Gem and O'Henry's. Now we have just a few more trees of late variety peaches left to pick for the fruit stand. We harvested a lot of ripe figs from the fig trees and we have sweet grapes from the Koyama farm next door.

Here's what's at the fruitstand now:

Figs--Black Mission, brown variety
Grapes--Ribier (seedless, purple, limited quantity)
Peaches--Faye Elberta, Rio Oso Gem, O'Henry (all yellow freestone varieties); and Philip (yellow cling)
Plums--Casselman, Kelsey, Friar, Elephant Heart, Duarte
Asian Pear--Hosui and Shinseiki (yellow varieties) and Shinko and Yoi (brown varieties)
European Pear--Bartlett
Vegetables--tomatoes, eggplant (Ichiban and Listada de Gandia), green beans (Kentucky Wonder), bitter melon, sweet peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, summer squash, tomatillos, Swiss chard, oregano, mint
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Bitter Melon

2010-08-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Bitter Melon is in season now. We grow two types of bitter melon, a spikey, more pointed type and a smoother, more oblong variety. We try to pick them green, but a few have ripened to yellow and peeled open like a flower to reveal sticky and sweet bright red seeds inside. The photos at the left and below show a bitter melon that's just starting to open.

Bitter melon is in the squash family and is mostly used like a summer squash. The texture is like chayote or cucumber. Bitter melon is supposed to be medicinal and good for digestion. Salting and rinsing it takes away some of the bitterness, but some of it always remains.

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Faye Elberta Peach Time

2010-08-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Faye Elberta peaches are now ripe at the orchard. We still have 49'er, Rio Oso Gem, Suncrest, and Gene Elberta peaches, too. If you'd like flats of Peach seconds for canning or freezing, let us know ahead of time and we'll reserve some for you to pick up at the fruit stand. You can either call or stop by and ask.

Faye Elberta peaches are part of Slow Food's Ark of taste, along with quite a few other varieties of peaches and plums that we have available right now. Rio Oso Gem, Suncrest and Silver Logan are all peach varieties included in the Ark of Taste. Elephant Heart, Mariposa and Laroda are all varieties of plums that we have in the fruit stand now that are also included in Slow Food's Ark of Taste.

Kelsey Plums

2010-08-10T17:31:00.000-07:00

Kelsey plums are very large green heart-shaped plums that are yellow inside when they're first picked. Although Kelsey plums are sweet and ready to eat even when firm and green on the outside, as they get softer the skin and inside becomes yellow to pink. You can eat them in all their different stages of color and texture. Kelsey is an old variety of Japanese plum similar to European Green Gage plums.

In the photo above you can see a box of just-picked Kelseys with a natural wax bloom that makes them look blueish. In the photo below, a Kelsey is cut open so you can see the inside. We now have Kelseys for sale in the fruit stand in various stages, from green to yellow-red.

The Fruit Stand is Full

2010-08-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

We have 11 different varieties of plums harvested right now. There are so many that there's not enough room to display them all, so if you don't see particular variety out, just ask us.

We now have lots of tomatoes too, including large to small red tomatoes, sun gold cherry , black cherry and Cherokee purple.

Some of the first variety of Asian pear, Kikusui, was picked over the weekend so there's a small supply for sale.

Here's what's currently at the fruit stand:

Peaches--Suncrest, Gene Alberta, 49'er (all yellow freestone varieties); Sugar Lady, Nectar, Babcock, White Lady, Arctic White (all white freestone varieties)
Nectarines--Flavortop (yellow variety)
Plums--Kelsey, Black Amber, Friar, El Dorado, Laroda, Santa Rosa, Frontier, Mariposa, Elephant Heart, Duarte, French Prune
Pluots--Dapple Dandy, Flavor Queen
Asian Pear--Kikisui
Blackberrries
Melons--Break Fast, Ambrosia, Ogen (Israeli Dessert melon)
Vegetables--Tomatoes, Eggplant (Ichiban and Listada de Gandia), green beans (Kentucky Wonder), long beans, sweet peppers, hot peppers, zucchini, summer squash, onions, Swiss chard, oregano, mint
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Peaches that Melt in your Mouth

2010-07-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

Above you can see four of the varieties of peaches we have at the fruit stand now. Starting with the yellowish peach on the left are Delight, Red Haven, Suncrest and Gene Elberta. All are sweet, juicy, flavorful and delicious yellow freestone peaches. When they're ripe they're fragrant and soft and melt away inside your mouth.

Delight is large, firm and mostly yellow inside, with the outside mostly yellow with a red blush. Red Haven is medium sized with skin that's a dark red blush on a yellow background, and yellow flesh with a sometimes a bit of red coming from the center. Suncrest is large and streaked red and yellow on the outside with streaks of red running through the flesh inside, too. Gene Elberta is large and yellow with a bit of red mottling on the skin, and mostly yellow flesh.

Suncrest peaches are also part of Slow Food's Ark of Taste. They were written about in the book Epitaph for a Peach by David Masumoto.

Uri

2010-07-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

What can you do with an Armenian cucumber that got this big? You can use it like an uri and make pickles. An uri is a type of melon that people use to make Japanese pickles (tsukemono). Since the actual uri is hard to find in the United States, people sometimes use over-size Armenian cucumbers, because they're similar and actually a melon.

I found two recipes for uri pickles from a cookbook called "Nihon Shoku", a Japanese-American cookbook put together by the Placer Buddhist Church in nearby Penryn, California. The shorter version was called 'uri no kasuzuke', and a longer version that called for a year of curing was called 'uri narazuke'. Both recipes call for sake no kasu, which is a by product of making sake. You can find sake no kasu in a Japanese or other Asian grocery store. Below is the recipe with the shorter curing time.

Uri No Kasuzuke

Uri or cucumber
Salt
1 lb. Sake no kasu
1 lb. brown sugar

Cut uri; remove seeds; fill the cavity with salt and leave in shade until salt disappears (about 1 day). Put uri in deep container and put cut side down; place in large flat dish and put weight on. Leave about 2 weeks. Remove from container and lay the uri in the shade to dry, covered with paper for about 2 days. Combine sake no kasu with the brown sugar. Put layer of uri, cut side up, in a container; cover with sake no kasu mixture; repeat, ending with sake no kasu. It will be watery within a week. Taste the uri, if it is too salty, add more sugar. If using pickling cucumber, use whole. It is ready to eat in 2 weeks, but will taste better the linger it stays in the kasu.

White Peaches

2010-07-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

We now have many new white peaches at the fruit stand. Right now we have Babcock, Sugar Lady, Arctic Rose, Nectar and donut varieties. A lot of people like white peaches because they're lower in acid content than yellow peaches, so they seem sweeter. The season for white peaches ends a few weeks sooner than for yellow. We expect to have a good supply of white peaches for a few more weeks only, but yellow peaches will probably stretch through August. At left and below are photos of Arctic Rose and donut white peaches.

Lots of Plums and Peaches

2010-07-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

A lot of different varieties of plums are ready at the orchard now. In the photo above, going clockwise from the red plum in the top right corner you can see Beauty, Red Beaut, Santa Rosa, Frontier, Black Amber and Satsuma and Black Beaut plums. Other varieties that are ripening and will be available soon are Mariposa, Duarte, Laroda and Friar plums. We have a good supply of peaches too, so we're selling flats of peaches and peach seconds. If you'd like flats of peaches for canning or jam, please call ahead if you can and we can save some for you.

Vegetable are growing well in the gardens now, too, although tomatoes are very behind. We should have our first tomatoes for sale by this weekend, although the supply will still be limited. Normally we have enough tomatoes to sell by the beginning of July.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Peaches--Red Haven, Bonjour, Flavorcrest, Regina (all yellow freestone varieties); white donut peaches, White Lady, Babcock (white freestone varieties)
Plums--Black Beaut, Laroda, Santa Rosa, Frontier, Satsuma
Pluots--Flavor Queen
Nectarines--Jade (white variety)
Apricots--Royal (last of the season)
Figs--Mission
Vegetables--Eggplant (Ichiban and Listada de Ganadia), green beans (Kentucky Wonder), sweet peppers, zucchini, summer squash, Swiss chard, basil, oregano, mint
Eggs--from chickens at our orchard
Honey--from bees at our orchard

Peaches & Santa Rosa Plums

2010-06-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

We now have a lot of peaches at the fruit stand, as well as Santa Rosa plums. Santa Rosa plums are very fragrant and flavorful, with both sweetness and tangy-ness. Cherries and loquat are finished, and there will be no more plants from Peas and Harmony until it's time for planting Fall vegetables. A lot more varieties of peaches and plums should be coming up soon. To see our harvest calender, click here. Because of this spring and early summer's cooler weather, what we actually have harvested so far has been about a week behind what we typically expect for the time of year.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Plums--Santa Rosa, black beaut, red beaut, beauty
Peaches--Bon Jour, June crest, Regina (all are yellow free-stone varieties)
Apricots--Patterson, Royal Blenheim
Vegetables--zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, Swiss chard, garlic and herbs (basil, rosemary, oregano)
Honey--(raw, from bees living at our orchard)
Eggs

New Fruits and Vegetables at the Fruit Stand

2010-06-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

A few new things ready at the orchard. Apricots and the early summer peaches are ready, as well as zucchini, Swiss chard, garlic and basil. Above is a photo of yellow zucchini growing in the garden.

If you have space left in your garden, we still have a few plants from Peas and Harmony for sale at the fruit stand. There are pepper plants, winter and summer squash plants, eggplant and herb seedlings.

For father's day Chris made a peach and berry cobbler from Joanne Neft and Laura Kenny's Placer County Real Food Cookbook that was really good. The recipe called for olallieberries, but since we don't have those at the orchard she used raspberries, mulberries and peaches.

Here's what we have now at the fruit stand:

Plums--Red beaut, beauty
Peaches--May Crest, June Crest
Apricots--Patterson
Cherries--Bing
Loquat (biwa)
Vegetables--zucchini, Swiss chard, garlic and herbs (basil, rosemary, oregano)
Honey--(raw, from bees living at our orchard)
Organic vegetable seedlings--from Peas and Harmony

Early Summer work at the Orchard

2010-06-17T15:40:00.000-07:00

In the orchard we have been thinning persimmons from the trees, weed-eating around the sprinklers and checking and repairing the irrigation. In the vegetable gardens we just finished planting the last winter squash by seed. Most of the zucchini and summer squash plants are starting to produce. The tomatoes are all green still, and they do seem like they'll be ready later than usual.

We pulled up the last of the garlic from the wire-lined beds and then planted the beds with specialty pumpkins (such as cinderella and white pumpkins). There's just enough time after the garlic is pulled out in early June to put in pumpkins that will ripen by the beginning of October. The beds are wire-lined to keep out gophers, since garlic is one of gophers' favorite things to eat. They also like to eat roots of pumpkin plants and chew on the pumpkins themselves.

To keep gophers out, we make a raised bed with hardware cloth on the bottom and aviary wire on the sides. Though it's a lot of work to make beds like this, it's worth it for certain crops, since gophers are unable to chew through the wire to whatever is planted there. Toshio has also been setting lots of gopher traps around the orchard to try to get rid of gophers in the other parts of the vegetable gardens. In the photo above is Toshio with a few gophers that he caught in traps.

Tosh and the Orchard on Good Day Sacramento

2010-06-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the morning TV show "Good Day Sacramento" is coming to the orchard. They're supposed to be filming scenes live from the orchard from 7:00 to 8:00 AM off and on, and spend a few minutes talking with Tosh. The show is on channel 31 locally. Click here for a link to their show. From the web page you can watch it live on line, or watch the show later on.

Loquat

2010-06-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

We just picked loquat (biwa) and Royal Ann cherries over the past few days. We also have the first red beaut plums. Red beaut plums have red skin and yellow interiors, and are the first variety that we grow to ripen for the year. We expect to have apricots by next week. Because of the cold weather this spring, all of these fruits are a week or so later getting ripe than usual.

Last weekend, for the second time I had to replant about two rows of tomato plants in the garden because they had frozen in a frost the week before. It was really helpful that Julie and Alison from Peas and Harmony had big tomato plants they could give me so that I could replant both times. Otherwise I would have had only about a row of plants alive to produce tomatoes for the fruit stand. Now I can concentrate on getting the winter squash planted in the rows that are left in the garden.

In the orchard now the olive and persimmon trees have just finished blooming. The pomegranate trees are still blossoming. Pomegranate trees have very distinctive reddish orange flowers, as you can see in the photo above.

Here's what's at the fruit stand now:

Plums-Red beaut
Cherries-Royal Ann
Loquat (biwa)
Oranges-Valencia
Grapefruit-white variety (last ones)
Organic Plants from Peas and Harmony-tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, winter squash, basil and other herbs
Honey--from our bees
Eggs--from our chickens

Cherries & Sactown Magazine

2010-05-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

We picked the first cherries this week and they're now for sale at the fruit stand. We had to pick them a little earlier than we wanted, because rain was expected again. It has continued to be cool here with many record lows for the month so far. Some of the tomato plants I replanted even frosted again this past weekend. I pruned off the frosted parts, but if the plants survive the tomatoes will probably still be delayed.

A nice article featuring our orchard comes out in this month's Sactown Magazine "Best of the City" issue. The article is called "Home Eat Home" and it's about 10 local farms and their specialties. Otow Orchard is noted for persimmons. The article isn't online, but you can find the magazine for sale in a lot of places throughout our area.

At left is a photo of ripening loquat (or biwa) on the tree. Most are now yellow to orange and a little riper than this, so they should be ready to pick soon.

Oranges

2010-05-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

Lately we've been busy thinning fruit from the peach and plum trees, planting the vegetable gardens and fixing irrigation problems. There were two cold nights this past week that killed some of the tomato plants in the colder parts of the orchard, so a lot of the tomato plants we planted a few weeks ago partially froze. Probably they'll have to be replanted.

At the Fruit Stand we now have:
--Oranges (Valencia)
--Grapefruit (White variety)
--Lemons (Eureka)
--Organic Vegetable Seedlings from Peas and Harmony--tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, squash, herbs
--Eggs
--Honey

At left is a photo of the Valencia orange tree at the orchard.

Unusual Events

2010-04-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend, while we were busy planting the vegetable gardens and thinning peaches from the trees, a few unexpected things happened.

The first was that we found a snake curled up on the window sill in the basement. As far as anyone could remember, no rattle snakes had ever been seen at the orchard, but we were still worried that maybe that's what it was. When Tosh looked closely at the snake he could see by its markings that it was actually a young gopher snake. He picked it up carefully and took it outside to a gopher hole in a garden. Above is a photo of Mizuki looking at the snake.

Also, the neighbors' turkey attracted a wild turkey and they both wandered around the orchard together. The neighbors' turkey is a male and it spent hours showing off the for female wild turkey by trying to intimidate people at the orchard. He would puff out his feathers, drag the tips of his wings on the ground to make a hissing sound, and go anywhere there were people and circle around them. Eventually the neighbor came over to make the turkey walk home and the wild turkey followed. In the photo above, the turkeys are in the parking lot by the fruit stand, the male is in front.

The third unusual thing that happened was that I found something strange rapidly growing and spreading in my garden. Early Saturday morning during the 4-H organic gardening group, we noticed something that looked like gooey curdled milk spilled on the edge of a garden bed. The kids poked it and it turned reddish brown within a few minutes. Later in the afternoon I went back to the same garden bed and found that the gooey patch was gone from where it had been, but that another patch of something was a little ways away down the bed. It was spreading along the lines of irrigation tape in the rows. This patch wasn't gooey-looking, but instead was bumpy and whitish yellow like tiny cauliflower. You can see a photo of it above, growing near some bean seedlings.

I showed the thing growing in the garden to Toshio and he thought maybe it was a type of slime mold. At home we looked up information about slime molds and found that what was in my garden matched the description and photos of a type of slime mold actually called Fuligo septicam or "dog vomit slime mold". Wikipedia had an article with photos of examples of "dog vomit slime mold".

The next morning when I went to the garden, the patch was smoothing out and turning darker, from whitish yellow to yellowish brown, like browning meringue. By the end of that day it was marbled light brown. All of this fits the description of what dog vomit slime mold is supposed to be like, so it seems likely that that's what it is. This type of slime mold feeds on bacteria, and doesn't usually grow on living plants, although it can do that. Since the mold wasn't growing on any live plants and it was probably helping the compost break down, I left it as it was. I did decide not to water that area for a few days though, because maybe this mold formed because conditions had been too wet in the garden bed. Below is a photo of how it looked late Sunday afternoon.

Seedlings and Sad Chicken News

2010-04-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Above is a photo of our chickens earlier in the winter out in a garden. You can see the door of the chicken dome to the right. For most of the winter the chickens were able to get out in the orchard during the day. Near sundown they would return to the chicken dome to roost.

Peas and Harmony now has organic vegetable seedlings for sale at our orchard. They have many kinds of healthy organic tomato, pepper, eggplant, squash and other plants that are ready for planting . Their website is now set up so that people can also order and pay for plants through the Peas and Harmony online and pick up your order later at the fruitstand. Of course, you can also still just stop by the orchard and look at the plants and pay at the fruit stand.

The sad news about the chickens is that a few days ago some dogs came over to the orchard and killed most of our chickens. The chickens were not even out in the orchard, a dog actually got into the chicken dome. Eight chickens and our rooster were killed, so now there are only two chickens left to live in chicken dome just by themselves.

Now we have to decide what to do. Do we want to raise more hens from chicks or try to get adult laying hens somehow so we can keep having enough eggs to sell? If we start with chicks now, they won't lay eggs until about August. Also, maybe we have to build a new pen or have more than one smaller pen that we could move around the orchard more easily. The chicken dome we have now requires three people to move it and it's now bent a bit from the wind.

The fruit stand is still open regular hours, although it hasn't been very busy lately. Hours are 9-6 Tues.-Sat., 10-6 on Sunday. Mondays we're closed.

Here's what we have for sale at the fruit stand now:

Organic Vegetable Seedlings from Peas and Harmony
Grapefruit--white variety
Oranges--navel
Lemons--Meyer, Eureka
Asian Pear--okusankichi (small quantity left)
dehydrated fruit from our orchard
Eggs
Firewood--seasoned firewood (peach, plum, pear, persimmon)

Spring at the Orchard

2010-03-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

In the photo above you can see a newly planted tree that replaced the old plum tree lying on the ground behind. The plum tree that was pulled out was partly hollow inside, but still flowered. To see a set of photos taken of Spring at the orchard, click here.

We are still spending time planting trees and pruning some of the later trees like the persimmons and olive. In a few weeks we plan to start planting the vegetable gardens with tomato and summer squash.

At the fruit stand we now have grapefruit (yellow and pink), navel oranges, lemons (Eureka and Meyer), Okusankichi Asian pear, honey and eggs.

Blossoming and Rain

2010-03-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

Trees are still blossoming, even though we've been getting a lot of rain the past few weeks.

If you look closely in the photo at the left, or click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see a bee visiting cherry blossoms at the orchard.

Lately we've been digging holes to plant new trees and finishing up pruning and raking brush. We've also been planting and watering vegetable seedlings growing in our small greenhouse. We hope to be able to plant seedlings in the gardens during the first few weeks of April. We started some ourselves, and we're also ordering some seedlings from Peas and Harmony.

The chickens have been enjoying roaming around in the orchard every day. We're not sure if they can still be free-ranging after we plant the gardens, though. Maybe we'll have to just find a way to block them from the garden beds while the plants are still small.

Orchard in Bloom

2010-02-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

A lot of the orchard's trees started blooming this past week. White and pink flowered plum and peach trees are spread throughout the orchard. The apple, pear and persimmon trees will be later to bloom, just as their fruit is ready later, also. The fruit stand is still open regular hours, and people are free to come visit the orchard any time we're open. It's a nice time to come out and take a walk. The fruit stand produce variety is at its minimum because only a few fruits are in season.

Here's what's at the Fruit Stand now:

Grapefruit--white variety
Oranges--navel
Lemons--Meyer, Eureka
Asian Pear--okusankichi (small quantity left)
Kiwi--small quantity left
dehydrated fruit from our orchard
Eggs
Honey--raw, untreated honey from bees at our orchard
Firewood--seasoned firewood (peach, plum, pear, persimmon)

Chickens and Eggs

2010-02-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we found that two of our new chickens have been laying clutches of eggs around the orchard. Near the house Viviano discovered a nest of blue-green eggs (in the photo at left). We have since noticed that one of the new Americana chickens named "Ruby" runs straight out to this nest every morning as soon as she gets let out to lay a new egg there.

One of the new black sex-link chickens also had a clutch of eggs at the back of the garage that she had been laying. On Monday night she didn't return to the chicken dome with the other chickens and instead stayed out to sit on her eggs. She's been sitting on the nest since then, so it seems that she's trying to hatch them now. This chicken chose a semi-protected spot in the tall grass next to the building, inside a roll of chicken wire that was lying on its side to make her nest. To help keep the rain off I leaned an old piece of a fiberglass shower wall against the building above her. Hopefully a coyote doesn't want to bother with coming so close to the house and getting through the chicken wire to eat her during the three weeks she'll have to be sitting there on the nest.

Above you can also see Viviano offering grass to the new Maran hen at the edge of the garden.

Budding Branches

2010-02-07T09:10:00.001-08:00

Above you can see a branch on a plum tree, with blossoms just about to burst open. The ume (Japanese sour plum) trees were the first to blossom a few weeks ago. When you walk under the ume tree by the house you can hear it buzzing with bees.

It has rained quite a bit during the past few weeks. After about 3 years of low rainfall, it seems that the rainfall in our area is now at about average for this time of year. Lately we've been spending time pruning the trees, raking brush and preparing garden beds. We just got in an order of new trees this weekend, so soon we'll have to start planting them in the orchard.

Here's what's at the Fruit Stand now:

Mandarins--owari satsuma (very last ones)
Oranges--navel
Grapefruit--white variety
Lemons--Meyer, Eureka
Asian Pear--okusankichi
Kiwi
Apples--Pippin
Eggs
Honey--raw, untreated honey from bees at our orchard
Firewood--seasoned firewood (peach, plum, pear, persimmon)

Otow Orchard on California Country

2010-01-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

We will be featured on an episode of "California Country" that's showing this week on ABC television stations throughout California. The episode features some of the different types of persimmons we grow, the orchard and our family. It will be shown locally on KXTV channel 10 Sacramento on Friday, Jan. 22 at 11:30 AM. The episode is also about celery, brussel sprouts and winter gardens. Click here for a link to the website. California Country magazine also did a very good article about hoshigaki (dried persimmons) at our orchard a few years ago. Click here for the link to the article.

At the fruit stand we now have small amounts of hoshigaki for sale. We finished sending out mail orders, called people on the waiting lists and found that we actually have a little bit of hoshigaki left. Mandarins are gone, but we now have clementines, navel oranges, grapefruit, lemons, apples, kiwi and soft persimmons.

Winter Transition Time

2010-01-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

Last week we picked the first grapefruit and naval oranges. These are the last two fruits of the winter that we'll be picking. As these last citrus fruits are ripening at the orchard, the blossoms on the ume trees are about to pop. Ume is a small, sour Japanese plum, and one of the first spring fruits. We expect the late spring/early summer fruits such as ume, loquat, cherries, and apricots in May.

The last few sticks of hoshigaki are drying on the racks and we are trying to get the last orders packed and sent out. Most of the persimmons are soft now, so the week and the next will probably be the last few weeks we'll have any available.

Here's what you'll find at the fruit stand:

Mandarins--owari satsuma
Oranges--navel
Grapefruit--white variety
Lemons--Meyer, Eureka
Persimmons--hachiya (soft), fuyu (softening)
Asian Pear--okusankichi
Kiwi
Apples--fuji, pippin
Eggs
Honey--raw, untreated honey from bees at our orchard
Firewood--seasoned firewood (peach, plum, pear, persimmon)

Happy New Year!

2009-12-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

The fruit stand will be closed for New Year's on January 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. We'll open again on Tuesday, January 5th, with regular hours. We remain open through out the winter and spring, from 9-6 Tuesday through Saturday, and 10-5 on Sunday. Mondays we are closed.

Kiwi Blossoms & Fruit

2009-12-20T21:54:00.000-08:00

We picked the first kiwi fruit at the orchard this past week. At left you can see photos of kiwi blossoms on the vines this spring and a box of kiwi fruit at the fruit stand. If you click on the photos to look closely, you can see how the outer petals of the kiwi blossoms are brownish and fuzzy like the kiwi fruit.

We're taking names for a hoshigaki waiting list in case we have any hoshigaki left after filling all the orders we already have. Unfortunately, it's looking doubtful that we'll be able to get to the names on the waiting list, though.

Here's what we have for sale now at the fruit stand:

Persimmons--hachiya (soft), fuyu (softening), vodka-treated hyakume, maru
Mandarins--owari satsuma
Asian Pear--okusankichi
Kiwi
Apples--fuji, pippin, mutsu
Winter Squash
Pecans--in the shell
Eggs
Honey--raw, untreated honey from bees at our orchard
Firewood--seasoned firewood (peach, plum, pear, persimmon)
Gourds--for decorating

Hoshigaki Orders Stopped

2009-12-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

We are sorry to say that we can no longer accept any more orders for hoshigaki (massage-dried persimmons).

Because we need to be sure that we have enough for the orders that have already been placed, we have stopped taking new orders. The hoshigaki that's currently finishing the drying process is all that we'll be able to produce for this season.

If you like firm fuyu persimmons, try to come get them at the fruit stand soon before they become soft.

Here's what's at the Fruit Stand now:

Persimmons--fuyu, maru, hachiya, hyakume (vodka-treated)
Mandarins--owari satsuma variety (various sizes)
Lemons--Meyer
Apples--Fuji, Mutsu, pippin
Asian pear--Okusankichi (large brown variety)
Pecans--in the shell
Winter Squash--buttercup, red kuri, Hopi orange
Honey--raw, untreated and un-heated honey made by bees at our orchard

Above is a recent photo of a sunset at the orchard with the shapes of persimmon trees and the wind machine.

Snow at the Orchard

2009-12-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

There was snow at the orchard this morning, which is a very rare event. I went out to take photos because I've never seen it snow here in the five years we've lived here.

The photo at left is from early this morning. Besides a thin layer of slushy snow, the orchard was full of all kinds of chattering, screeching birds. Flocks of various kinds of birds were happily visiting the softening persimmons at the tops of the trees. During the day today the snow mostly melted, except in a few areas with no direct sun at all. To see more photos, click here.

Persimmon Cookies

2009-12-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

A lot of people are familiar with persimmons as an ingredient in holiday cookies and breads. For these recipes you use the pulp of persimmons that have become very soft, like the hachiya persimmons in the photo above. Hachiya is a type of persimmon that is astringent with tannic acid when hard, but is very sweet when the fruit becomes soft like gelatin.

Any type of soft persimmon can be used in recipes for baking, but hachiya is most commonly used because it's large, flavorful and has smooth pulp. Gyombo is a similar variety of persimmon also good for baking. Gyombo tends to be sweeter than hachiya and has more water content, so if you use gyombo in a recipe you might need a little more flour. We also use both hachiya and gyombo to dry for hoshigaki.

Here is a recipe for persimmon cookies based on a recipe from The California Persimmon, a persimmon cookbook published by the University of California Cooperative Extension, Placer and Nevada Counties. To see a nice photo of persimmon cookies that someone posted on Flickr, click here.

Persimmon Cookies Recipe

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup persimmon puree
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup nuts

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg. Dissolve the teaspoon of baking soda into the cup of persimmon puree and stir together.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, spices and salt. Add raisins and nuts, then mix this together with the first mixture. Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Peeling Has Ended

2009-11-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

We stopped peeling more persimmons to dry for hoshigaki just before Thanksgiving this week. The persimmons have gotten too soft to peel and to dry well at this point. This means that what we started drying already will be all that can be made for the season. We're still taking orders for hoshigaki though, and we still have some for sale in the fruit stand.

In the photo above you can see buckets of persimmon peelings next to Toshio's worm bin at the orchard. Toshio had been feeding some of the peelings to the worms along with other compost from the orchard. The worm castings make very rich fertilizer that we hope to use for the gardens next spring.

Mandarins and Hoshigaki

2009-11-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

We continue to be very busy at the orchard lately, with lots of people who want to see the hoshigaki drying process and try different types of persimmons coming to visit. This past week's publicity about the orchard has definitely brought a lot of people out. The PBS television show California Gold featuring the orchard was shown multiple times, and the Sacramento News and Review had an article about persimmons that mentioned us. The Sacramento News and Review article was accurate and very informative about the different types of persimmons. To see the article, click here.

Drying persimmons for hoshigaki was a bit trickier this past week, because of a few episodes of rain. They dry more slowly when it rains because of dampness in the air and less sun exposure for the persimmons after first being peeled. Also the weather is getting colder and we are hurrying to peel as many persimmons as possible before the cold softens them too much for peeling. Once the persimmons are too soft to peel, the persimmons that have started drying are all the hoshigaki we'll be able to make for the the season.

Other news is that we now have mandarins for sale at the orchard. Here's a list of what at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons--fuyu, maru, hachiya, hyakume (vodka-treated)
Hoshigaki (dried persimmon)--in small quantities, please call ahead for larger amounts
Mandarins--owari satsuma variety (various sizes)
Apples--Fuji, Golden Delicious, Mutsu, pippin
Asian pear--Okusankichi (large brown variety)
Pomegranate--white & red varieties
Winter Squash--buttercup, red kuri, kabocha, Hokkaido, pumpkins
Gourds--for decorating
Honey--raw, untreated and un-heated honey made by bees at our orchard

Above is a photo of a mandarin tree at our orchard.

Mail Order for Hoshigaki, Mandarins & Other Fresh Fruit

2009-11-19T10:25:00.001-08:00

We are still taking mail orders for hoshigaki (massage-dried persimmons) and mandarins, but have now stopped taking orders for both Asian pear and fresh persimmons. Soon the fresh persimmons will get too soft to ship out, and we need to finish getting out the orders people have already put in.

To order hoshigaki (massage-dried persimmons), get to the order form. We don't take orders online, so you have to print out the form and mail it to us with a check. We can only accept checks, no credit cards or Pay Pal. Another way to get to the order form is to go our home page and click on "2009 Mail Order Form for persimmons now available".

Edit: We're now sold out for 2009

Above is a photo of the hoshigaki gift box. We mail it out with a small hand-made tag with an origami persimmon on the front. The regular one pound size of hoshigaki is sent in a clear bag with a paper label inside.

Persimmon Pumpkin Pie

2009-11-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a recipe for making a persimmon pumpkin pie, or pumpkin pie with persimmon added, if you'd like to think of it that way. I made this by taking a persimmon pie recipe and substituting half the amount of persimmon called for with pumpkin. It tastes like a pumpkin pie with added persimmon flavor, and with a slightly smoother texture. I've also made this using winter squash instead of pumpkin, since winter squash is usually sweeter and we still have them from the gardens.

The original recipe was called "Persimmon Cream Pie", and comes from The California Persimmon, a persimmon cookbook published by the University of California Cooperative Extension, Placer and Nevada Counties.

Persimmon Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup persimmon pulp
3/4 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin
1 2/3 cup evaporated milk or light cream
1 8 in. uncooked pie crust

Combine beaten eggs, sugar, spices and salt. Mix well. Add pumpkin and persimmon pulp, evaporated milk or cream and stir again. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Now's the time for Fuyu Persimmons

2009-11-08T13:22:00.000-08:00

Fuyu persimmons are a variety of persimmon that is sweet and ready to eat when they're hard, in the same way an apple is. It's okay to wait until fuyus get softer to eat them also, but people usually prefer them firm. The colder weather lately is starting to help soften some of the fuyus, so if you like them to be firm, try and come to the fruit stand soon. We have lots of fuyu persimmons picked now, and are selling them by the pound and at a discount for a flat or box.

At the Fruit Stand now you'll find:

Persimmons--fuyu, maru, hachiya, hyakume (vodka-treated)
Hoshigaki (dried persimmon)--in small quantities, please call ahead for larger amounts
Apples--Fuji, Golden Delicious, Mutsu, pippin
Asian pear--Okusankichi (large brown variety)
Pomegranate--white & red varieties
Winter Squash--butternut, buttercup, red kuri, kabocha, Hokkaido, pumpkins
Vegetables--peppers (sweet and hot)
Gourds--for decorating
Honey-raw, untreated and unheated honey from bees at our orchard

Above is a close up of a fuyu persimmon.

California Gold & Open House

2009-11-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

The PBS television show California Gold featuring Otow Orchard drying persimmons will air again this Fall. Here are the times we know of so far:

Thurs., Nov. 12th, 7:30 PM on KCET Los Angeles
Thurs., Nov. 19th, 9:00 PM on KVIE Sacramento

Huell Howser of California Gold came to interview people at the orchard and show the process of making hoshigaki (dried persimmons) in the Fall of 2007. The episode has aired quite a few times since then, in California and also in Huell Howser's home state of Tennessee. Click here for more about the show.

Also, we hope lots of people come out to this coming Saturday's open house at the orchard. The orchard is very pretty right now, with the foliage of some of the trees turning turning red, orange and yellow. The open house is sponsored and organized by Placer Land Trust , and will take place at Otow Orchard on Saturday, Nov. 14th from 1:00-3:00 PM. There will be free food, tours of the orchard, hoshigaki demonstrations and hay bales and tractors to play on. The orchard and fruit stand will be open from 9-6 as usual that day. Click here for a link to their site with information about the event. The open house is free and open to the public.

The photo above shows a maru persimmon tree at the edge of the old packing shed at the orchard.

Persimmon Tasting & Open House

2009-10-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Nov. 8th, we will do a hoshigaki demonstration at Twin Peaks Orchard in Newcastle, as part of the Persimmon Tasting event taking place there. We'll bring drying persimmons in various stages to demonstrate and talk about the drying process. Twin Peaks orchard is a nearby orchard that is also multi-generational and family-owned. Twin Peaks started almost 100 years ago, around the same time as Otow Orchard, and our families have known each other since then. Some of Twin Peak specialties are amagaki persimmons and peaches.

On Saturday, Nov. 14th from 1:00-3:00 PM Placer Land Trust is sponsoring an open house at our orchard. There will be food, tours and hoshigaki demonstrations. Click here for a link to their site with information about the event. Both events are free and open to everyone.

At left is a photo of a branch of sunburned hachiya persimmons.

Busy at the Orchard

2009-10-28T15:46:00.000-07:00

The orchard has been very busy with all aspects of making hoshigaki (dried persimmons) lately. We've been peeling and hanging as many persimmons as possible while the weather is good and while the persimmons are still hard enough to peel. There are now hoshigaki drying all stages. Freshly peeled persimmons are hanging on the racks and wall outside, the glass hot house has already-massaged persimmons, and the other indoor drying rooms have racks of drier persimmons. We spend time going through the racks massaging the hoshigaki and moving the sticks to a new location if they are ready. Some hoshigaki are nearly finished and "sugaring up", meaning that they are starting to show a powdery dusting of fructose on the surface. We expect to have some of the first hoshigaki of the season finished within the next two weeks.

Aside from working with hoshigaki and keeping track of mail orders, we are also sending out orders of fresh persimmons and Asian pears. Quite a few community groups have been coming for scheduled tours of the orchard, too.

In the fruit stand we now have lots of fuyu persimmons of various sizes. In general, summer vegetables such as tomatoes are now almost finished. Our pumpkin patch is open if you're looking for pumpkins for Halloween.

Here's what you'll find for sale at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons--Maru, hachiya, hyakume (vodka-treated), fuyu
Apples--Fuji, Golden Delicious, Mutsu
Asian pear--Okusankichi (large brown variety)
Grapes--Ribier
Jujube
Pomegranate--white variety
Quince
Winter Squash--butternut, delicata, red kuri, kabocha, Hokkaido
Vegetables--tomatillos, eggplant, bitter melon, peppers (sweet and hot), basil
Honey-from bees at our orchard
PUMPKINS (to choose at the fruit stand or pick your own in the pumpkin patch)--Jack-o-lantern (small and large), specialty types, pie pumpkins

Above you can see photos of Viviano practicing peeling next to a tub of peeled hachiya persimmons ready for stringing and hanging on the racks, and a photo of Helen peeling more persimmons while Toshio strings some for hanging.

What's New at the Orchard

2009-10-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

This week it has rained for a few days, so we held off peeling more persimmons to dry for hoshigaki until the weather cleared. If the freshly peeled persimmons have to stay covered under the tarp because of rain for too long, there's a danger that they'll remain damp for too long and mildew. The first hachiya persimmons were peeled at the end of September, but they are not yet finished drying to become hoshigaki in its final form. We are still taking orders for hoshigaki and fresh persimmons. For a link to the order form, click here.

Summer vegetables are slowing down now in the gardens, so we have less to offer in the fruit stand. If you want to order organic winter vegetable seedlings to plant in your garden, please contact Julie and Allison at Peas and Harmony.

Here's what you'll find at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons-Maru, hachiya, hyakume (vodka-treated), fuyu
Jujube
Pomegranate--white variety
Quince
Plums--Casselman
Apples--Northern Spy, Golden Delicious, Fuji, Mutsu
Asian pear--2oth Century, New Century, Shinko, Yoi, Yali
European pear--D'Anjou
Grapes--Ribier, Thompson seedless
Winter Squash--butternut, delicata, Fordhook acorn, red kuri, kabocha, Hokkaido, buttercup, pie pumpkins
Tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, green beans, bitter melon, okra, peppers (sweet and hot), basil, garlic
Honey-from bees at our orchard
PUMPKINS (to choose at the fruit stand or pick your own in the pumpkin patch)--Jack-o-lantern (small and large), specialty types, pie pumpkins

The photo above shows some of our chickens looking out of their chicken dome. Above them you can see the bamboo roost we made suspended from the top.

Hyakume & Maru Persimmons

2009-10-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

One of the varieties of persimmons we have at the orchard is called hyakume. It's a large yellowish persimmon that becomes brown inside if it has been pollinated. If hyakume is pollinated it can be eaten when it's hard, but if it is not pollinated, you must wait to eat it until it becomes soft like jello. A hard unpollinated hyakume will make your mouth pucker up and dry out worse than the greenest banana you could ever taste.

Maru persimmons are the same way, they must be pollinated and brown inside to be edible when they're hard. Hyakume is also called "cinnamon" persimmon, and maru is called "chocolate" since they are both shades of brown inside when pollinated. Both hyakume and maru are very sweet if you choose them carefully. They also each have a slightly different flavor than fuyu (another variety of persimmon that is always edible when hard).

Because it is difficult to tell if the hyakume are pollinated, we treat some of the fruit with vodka to sweeten them and take away the astringency. We sell these as "vodka-treated hyakume", although they are also called amagaki persimmons. Amagaki is Japanese for a non-astringent type of persimmon. The process of treating persimmons with alcohol (vodka or any other type) is called awasu, and is a process brought here from Japan by Japanese American farmers.

After treating each hyakume persimmon with a few drops of vodka and letting them rest for a number of days, all of the fruits are sweet and ready to eat, even though they are firm. We no longer have to worry about whether or not it was pollinated, and all of the treated hyakume can then be eaten firm or in any stage of softness. The first hyakume of the season has now been treated and is at the fruit stand for sale.

At left is a photo of a hyakume growing on a tree in our orchard.

Pumpkin Patch is Open

2009-10-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

The pumpkin patch at the orchard is now open for people to go out and choose a pumpkin. We also have jack-o-lantern and specialty pumpkins for sale at the fruit stand.

The photo at the left shows the edge of the pumpkin patch, with Queasy, the horse, in the background.

Pleasure of Placer Persimmons: Lunch in the Orchard

2009-10-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Slow Food will be hosting a persimmon-themed lunch at our orchard on Saturday, Oct. 17th from 11:00-1:30. Here's a quote from the press info:

Join us at the lovely Otow Orchard to learn about Hoshigaki, the art of hand-dried persimmons. A local lunch with each course featuring "something persimmon." Ticket price includes presentation, lunch and a donation in support of agricultural education in Placer County schools. In the event of rain, the event will be rescheduled to Saturday, October 24, same time. Call Joanne Neft at 916-663-9126 to confirm your attendance.

There are also a few places you can order tickets online for the lunch. Click here to go to the Brown Paper Tickets site.

Fuji Apples

2009-10-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

At left is a photo of a fuji apple tree taken this past weekend. Those apples have been picked, so we have fuji apples for sale at the fruit stand now.

Here's a list of other new fruits and vegetables this week at the fruit stand:

Golden Delicious apples
Ribier grapes--very large round sweet purple grapes with seeds
Hyakume persimmon--not treated with vodka
Red Kuri, kabocha, Hokkaido and buttercup winter squash

Yomogi

2009-09-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

Yomogi is a plant that grows as weed around the orchard, especially in watered areas under trees and around the edge of gardens. It was first intentionally planted because the leaves are used for coloring mochi. That was decades ago, and the plant now grows almost invasively in the area of the orchard around the house.

I haven't minded it growing at the edge of my garden though, because usually it grows and spreads so thickly that it chokes out grass. In the loose soil of the garden, its roots are easily pulled out, if it gets in too far.

During the past week I noticed another benefit of having yomogi around; its flowers are very attractive to bees. The yomogi plants that were never cut back at the edge of my garden have blossomed. When I've gone to turn water on in the mornings, I see and hear bees buzzing the the flowers. With fewer flowers from vegetables and fruit trees in the orchard during the fall, it must be helpful for the bees to have it growing, too.

Above is a honey bee gathering nectar from yomogi flowers. Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the bee.

What's at the Fruitstand

2009-09-25T00:48:00.000-07:00

Here's what we have at the fruit stand now:

Persimmons-Maru
Jujube
Pomegranate--white variety
Quince
Plums--Casselman
Peaches--Levi (clings)
Apples--Koyama's Northern Spy
Asian pear--2oth Century, New Century, Shinko, Yoi
European pear--Comice, D'Anjou
Figs--kadota and black mission
Winter Squash--butternut, delicata, Fordhook acorn
Tomatoes (regular and cherry), tomatillos, eggplant, green beans, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, bitter melon, peppers (sweet and hot), basil, garlic, onions
Honey-from bees at our orchard

Above is a photo of jujube fruit ripening on a tree.

2009 Mail Order Form

2009-09-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

The 2009 mail order form is now up on our web site. The mail order form shows the hoshigaki (dried persimmons) and fresh fruit we have available through mail order. This year, along with five types of persimmons, we also have Asian pear and mandarins for mail order.

Of course, fresh fruit is only available when it is in season. Asian pear is in season now and mandarins are usually ready around Thanksgiving time. We expect that the different types of fresh persimmons will be in season and available for mail order during October and November. We don't accept credit cards, so to make an order you will need to print out the form and send it with a check. Click here to go to the mail order form.

Moving into Fall

2009-09-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Although the hot days still feel like summer, evenings are colder and feel like fall. We had our first rain in months on Sept. 12th. The last summer fruits have all been picked, and fall fruits and vegetables are ripening. In the fruit stand we are down to the last variety of both peaches and plums.

Winter squashes have mostly been harvested, leaving only the latest growing ones in the gardens. Zucchini, summer squash and cucumber plants are growing much more slowly now, and most are starting to die off. The eggplants though, are still putting out an amazing amount of eggplants during this second and last harvest time for them. Maybe the hot weather during the day has helped them out.

Some of the earliest type of persimmon, the maru, have just gotten orange enough to pick. Jujube, quince and the first white pomegranates are ripe now, too.

Above is a photo of Christy with a Hokkaido winter squash, and a wheelbarrow of Waltham butternut, red kuri and delicata squash from the garden.

Giant Tomato

2009-08-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

We still have tomatoes growing, but none as big as the one in the picture to the left. This was one of the biggest of this year, and it weighed quite a bit over a pound. Right now we have a lot of eggplant and bitter melon coming in, too.

Here's what we have for sale now at the fruit stand:

Plums--Cassleman, Late Duarte
Asian pear--2oth Century, New Century, Hosui, Shinko
Apples--Red Delicious
Bartlett pears
Melons--Ambosia
Figs--white and black
Tomatoes (regular and cherry), tomatillos, eggplant, green beans, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, bitter melon, peppers (sweet and hot), basil (Genovase and lettuce leaf), garlic, onions
Honey-from bees at our orchard
Organically grown seedlings from Peas and Harmony