PEACHES, PLUMS, PLUOTS AND NECTARINES

It's a mystery.  I don't know why but we have decent looking nectarines this year.  Not a lot, but more than usual.  Flavortop and Fantasia are both yellow fleshed with great taste.  Heavenly White is a white fleshed nectarine with great flavor.  Hope you have an opportunity to get some before they are gone. 

We are harvesting mid season peaches at the beginning of July.  There is already color appearing on late season peaches.  I get the feeling that the peach season will likely end early.  Please make note.

During the 50's, 60's and 70's, our farm, along with many farms in Placer County, was busy growing plums as a summer crop.  Plums were harvested, sorted and packed into crates on our farm.  At the end of the day, the crates were delivered to a fruit shed in Loomis.  The fruit shed sold our plums to Colorado, Boston, Chicago, and New York markets. Today, the farm stand is filing up with many different varieties  of plums, some I don't have room to display.

Tomato season is just starting.  Cherry tomatoes are coming off the vines and we are getting a few slicers every day. There is a good supply of basil, cucumbers and squash.  Okra and eggplant are starting  to come in. The last harvest of potatoes will happen this week.

 

 

 

      Hours

Tuesday through Saturday           10:00 to 6:00

Sunday                                         11:00 to 5:00  

Closed on Monday

Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.

VEGETABLES:

Zucchini:  Green and yellow summer squash fresh out of the garden.  Tender green squash with white flesh. Great for sauteing, boiling, steaming, baking, roasting and adding to soup, stew and stir fry.

Asian Cucumbers:  Burpless, seedless and thin skinned cucumbers.  Refreshing, crisp, and tender.  Eaten as a summer snack, or added into salad or pickled.  Great flavor.

Slicing Cucumbers: Fresh, green cucumbers to add to your summer salads. 

Sakura Cherry Tomatoes:  Large, sweet, red cherry tomatoes
 

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes:  Bright yellow orange cherry tomatoes known for their bright fruity flavor. A summertime favorite on our farm. 

Basil:  Fragrant and flavorful.  Can be used in salads, sauces and pesto. 

Potatoes:  Youkon Gold potatoes.  Moist and flavorful potatoes with slightly yellow flesh.  These potatoes have thin smooth skin.  Great for roasting, boiling and frying.

Chard:  These greens are tender and tasty. Great for sauteing or adding to soup, casseroles, omelets, and stews.

Eggplant:  Both Asian and Italian eggplants will soon be available.

 

Okra:  Small quantities of okra will soon be available. 

FRUIT:

PEACHES

Gene Elberta:  Yellow freestone peach. Sweet and very  juicy.  Great for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Loring:  Yellow freestone peach. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

 49er:  Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Summerset:    Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Fay Elberta:   Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Known for its "melt in your mouth texture". Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

White Peaches:  

        Opale:  Firm white, freestone peaches.  They are low acid, sweet and tasty. Enjoyed when firm and crisp or soft and juicy.

        Silver Logan:  Soft fleshed, white, freestone peaches. They are juicy, sweet, low acid and high in flavor.

        Bowen Cling Peach:  This is not a freestone peach.  It is a cling peach.  The flesh  clings to the pit. Bowen peaches are firm and sweet. Juicy but not as juicy as a freestone peach. They are delicious eaten out of hand. These are sturdy peaches often used  in processing: canning, and baking.  Since the canneries closed down last year, many orchards of cling peaches were taken out.   

PLUMS

Santa Rosa: Very popular and very tasty.  Known for their sweet tart taste and amazing flavor and fragrance.  Great for fresh eating as well as for jams.

Black Amber:  Dark skin over amber red meaty flesh.  Sweet tart flavor and fragrant. Key ingredient for Black Amber Plum pie.

Mariposa :  Red fleshed with mottled purple skin.  Sweet and juicy, and flavorful. Great for fresh eating, baking and preserving. Semi freestone.

Eldorado:  Small dark-skinned plum. Sweet even when firm. Freestone. Used for fresh eating, baking and canning.  

Laroda:  Large flavorful dark-skinned plum. Sweet and juicy with a background of tang.  Great for fresh eating, preserving, and dehydrating.  

Kelsey:  Yellow-fleshed, green-skinned plum.   It has well balanced sweet/tart flavor.  It is juicy. Can be eaten fresh or used for canning or dehydrating.

Friar:  Dark-skinned, yellow fleshed sweet plum with great fragrance and flavor. Small semi-freestone pit.

Elephant Heart:  Large, red-fleshed plum.  Heart shaped with mottled skin.  Sweet and juicy with good flavor.  Used for fresh eating, baking and jams.

PLUOTS

Dapple Dandy:  Sweet, firm pluot with good flavor.  Dappled purple and pink skin with pinkish flesh.

 

Flavor Grenade:  Egg-shaped pluot with green-yellow skin with a reddish blush.  Most enjoyed firm ripe with a crisp texture.  Outstanding sweet flavor.

 

Flavor Jewel:  Firm light yellow pluot with red highlighted skin and shiny yellow flesh.  Eaten crisp with very sweet taste.   

 

BLACKBERRIES:  These thorny vines produce a sweet and tart mixed basket of wild berries.  Intense berry flavor with earthy sweetness. 

 

NECTARNES

Flavortop:  Red and yellow skinned nectarine with intense sweet-tart yellow flesh.  Delicious.

 

Fantasia:  Yellow skinned nectarine with red blush.  Yellow, sweet tart flesh.  Great flavor. 

 

Heavenly White:  White and red skin over white juicy flesh. Sweet-tart aromatic flavor.   

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  

Hoshigaki strips:  Thin slices of hoshigaki for snacking.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

Valencia:  These are juicing oranges but most people just peel and eat like any other orange. They are sweet and very juicy.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

 

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.   

Here is what we have from other producers: 

Sunnyslope Farm in Granite Bay, is again bringing us conventionally grown, beautiful peaches.

     Suncrest :  Yellow freestone peaches.  These are sweet, juicy and very flavorful peaches.  The book Epitaph for a Peach, by David Mas Masumoto was written about harvesting Suncrest peaches. (Limited supply.)

Eggs:  La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. Fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens. (Limited supply.)

Onions:  La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis.  Red, Yellow, and White onions grown with organic practices. 

 Rio Red Grapefruit:  Stoney Point Farm in Loomis,(Organic certified). These large grapefruit are juicy, sweet and red fleshed. Low in bitterness.

Red cherry tomatoes:  Kijani Farm in Granite Bay.  Grown by organic practices. 

 

Buttermilk Nectarine Upside down cake

 

PEACHES, PEACHES

 My apologies for not updating this page for almost a month.  We got slammed with an early harvest of peaches and plums.  My waking hours were spent sorting and processing the daily harvest.  When I sat down at the computer  I usually fell asleep.  Mother nature seems to be sending different signals to the trees this year.  Our peaches and plums are maturing about 3 weeks early.  For those of you who are consulting our harvest schedule, please make note to check early for products you see on the schedule.

 Peaches are definitely here.   Early peaches are gone, mid-season varieties are showing up.  One of our favorites, Red Haven, is ready.  We will have a steady supply for at least a week.  Growing and getting more color every day are the renown Suncrest peaches. 

Many plum varieties are coming into the farm stand. Burgundy, Mariposa, Eldorado, Laroda, and Black Amber.  There is still an ample supply of Santa Rosa plums.  We should have some pluots soon although some varieties are sparse.

The gardens are transforming to summer vegetables.  The peas, komatsuna, broccoli and lettuce have given up.  Our vegetable offerings have been a bit scarce for a week but now the summer vegetables are starting to perform.  We are starting to get zucchini, chard and cucumbers.  As I prepare to publish this update we get our first two baskets of Sungold cherry tomatoes and a bunch of basil. 

 

      Hours

Tuesday through Saturday           10:00 to 6:00

Sunday                                         11:00 to 5:00  

Closed on Monday

Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.

VEGETABLES:

Zucchini:  Green summer squash fresh out of the garden.  Tender green squash with white flesh. 

Chard:  These greens are tender and tasty. Great for sauteing or adding to soup, casseroles, omelets, and stews.

Asian Cucumbers:  Burpless, seedless and thin skinned cucumbers.  Refreshing, crisp, and tender.  Eaten as a summer snack, or added into salad or pickled.  Great flavor.

 

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes:  Bright yellow orange cherry tomatoes known for their bright fruity flavor. A summertime favorite on our farm. 

Basil:  Fragrant and flavorful.  Can be used in salads, sauces and pesto. 

 

FRUIT:

Red Haven Peaches:  This variety is frequently requested.  It is a yellow freestone peach with red streaked flesh. It  is sweet with a unique pleasing flavor.  Great for fresh eating, canning, freezing or baking.

June Pride Peaches:  Dark skinned yellow freestone.  Somewhat crisp texture with sweet-tart flavor.  Used for fresh eating and baking. (Limited supply).

White Peaches:  

        Sugar Lady, Babcock, Opale  are firm white, freestone peaches.         They are low acid, sweet and tasty.

        Silver Logan and Nectar are soft fleshed white peaches. They are juicy, sweet and low acid.

Blenheim Apricots:  Much desired variety of apricots.  These light orange apricots may retain green shoulders even when fully ripe. They are sweet with some tang.  Juicy, fragrant and a rich flavor profile (limited supply).

  

Santa Rosa Plums: Very popular and very tasty.  Known for their sweet tart taste and amazing flavor and fragrance.  Great for fresh eating as well as for jams.

Burgundy plums:  Dark skin, round with little speckles. Burgundy plums have deep red fleshed when ripened and are very sweet with mild skin.

Black Amber plums:  Dark skin over amber red meaty flesh.  Sweet tart flavor and fragrant. Key ingredient for Black Amber Plum pie.

Black Amber Plum Pie

Double pie crust 

4 1/2 cups Black Amber plums, unpeeled and sliced.

         (about 2 pounds)

 1 cup sugar

1/4 cup Tapioca

1/4 tsp Almond extract 

Mix all ingredients together except pie crusts.  Let stand for 15 minutes.  Pour into pie crust.  Top with one tablespoon diced butter. Put on top pie crust. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees until bubbly for 45 to 50 minutes. 

 Other plums to be harvested are Eldorado, Laroda, Frontier, and Mariposa.

 

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  

Hoshigaki strips:  Thin slices of hoshigaki for snacking.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

Valencia:  These are juicing oranges but most people just peel and eat like any other orange. They are sweet and very juicy.

Eureka lemons:  Firm and sour lemons. Great for adding flavor or making lemonade. 

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

 

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.   

Here is what we have from other producers: 

Sunnyslope Farm in Granite Bay, is again bringing us conventionally grown, beautiful peaches.

     Flavorcrest:  Yellow freestone peaches.  Sweet and juicy with a bit of tang (limited supply).

     Suncrest :  Yellow freestone peaches. Predicted to arrive the last week  of June.  These are sweet, juicy and very flavorful peaches.  The book Epitaph for a Peach, by David Mas Masumoto was written about harvesting Suncrest peaches.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens. (Limited supply.)

Stoney Point Farm in Loomis, CA. (Organic certified) is bringing us Rio Red Grapefruit.  These large grapefruit are juicy, sweet and red fleshed. Low in bitterness.

Arrow Place in Auburn (no spray) is still bringing us Meyer Lemons. These sought after lemons are less acidic than regular lemons. They have a thin peel often used for its fragrant zest.  Meyer are rounder than regular lemons with a dark yellow skin.

💧💧💧💧💧💧🐞🐞🐞🍉🍉🥕🥕🥕💧💧💧💧💧💧

 Gardening tip:  How I saved melon sprouts from cutworm damage.

Strip of foil triple folded.

Make a short circular strip that will circle the stem of the plant.

 

I used a small screwdriver to place the strip around the stem and close it off.

 

Now safe from hungry cutworms.

 

 

 

SUMMER HOURS

 So many people have been waiting for the return of our regular hours.  Wait no more.  This week we will be open longer.  Trees and gardens are providing some goodies.

      Hours

Tuesday through Saturday           10:00 to 6:00

Sunday                                         11:00 to 5:00  

Closed on Mondays

 

 It is unusual for our early varieties of peaches to ripen before the end of May.  This year we are almost finished with Spring Crest peaches.  Next we expect to harvest Flavorcrest peaches.  Royal Rosa apricots came and went quickly. Robada and Royal  apricots are next.  The Red Beaut plums are finished.  We are starting to harvest Santa Rosa plums.  It may be a year when all the crops mature early.

For the moment the vegetable garden is producing amazing peas and broccolini.  The beets are finished and the lettuce and komatsuna are on their last cuttings.  It is getting too warm for these crops.  A few zucchini are starting to produce.  Soon we will have chard and potatoes.  We will have to wait awhile for tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and peppers.  So  keep checking this page.

 

Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.

VEGETABLES:

Komatsuna:  Tender leafy green vegetable, thought of as a Japanese spinach.  Taste is more like bok choy, mild with slight mustard flavor.  Can be added to salad, stir-fries, and soup. 

 Red Mustard Greens: Beautiful purple and green leaf mustard.  It has a slightly spicy flavor.  Can be sauteed, or added to soups.

 

Sugar Snap Peas:  Fresh, crisp, and juicy. These sweet and crunchy peas can be enjoyed raw or gently cooked. Can be used for garnish.

 

 Broccolini:  similar to broccoli but milder and sweeter.  The florets,  leaves and stems are all edible in stir fries, sauteed, grilled, steamed, roasted, and raw. 

 

 

 

 

Zucchini:  Green summer squash fresh out of the garden.  Tender green squash with white flesh. 

FRUIT:

Springcrest peach:  Yellow semi freestone peach.  This peach is remarkably sweet, juicy and flavorful for an early peach variety.

Apricots:   Robada and Royal apricots are coming off the trees at this time.  There are not many of them.They are tasty and each variety has its unique flavor. (Limited supply)

Loquat:  This early season tropical fruit is sweet and refreshing.  It is small and juicy with sweet mild flavor.  Texture is similar to ripe pears.  Contain a large seed. (Limited supply)

Pakistani Mulberries:  Long stemmed, dark mulberries.  They are sweet and juicy.  (Limited supply.)

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  

Hoshigaki strips:  Thin slices of hoshigaki for snacking.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

Valencia:  These are juicing oranges but most people just peel and eat like any other orange. They are sweet and very juicy.

Eureka lemons:  Firm and sour lemons. Great for adding flavor or making lemonade. 

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

 

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.   

Here is what we have from other producers:

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.

The California Persimmon:  A book published by the ANR covering history and background of persimmons. Contains many new and traditional persimmon recipes.

 

 

 

MULBERRY SEASON HAS STARTED

 More produce is showing up sooner than I thought.  Maybe this will be an early year for summer fruits.  We have started to harvest peaches, plums, pluots and apricots.

   Winter vegetables are still with us as we get summer veggies planted.  I found that it is a bit tricky planning to put several crops into the same ground in succession.  For example, the row that was producing radishes and turnips last month are now planted with tomatoes.  And because we grew lettuce in  a different spot, we were able to plant eggplant.  And since seed potatoes arrived late we have to find a new place for the chili peppers.  

 

As we get more supply, the slow season hours will extend to later in the afternoon.  Look for the "OPEN / CLOSED" signs at the entrance to the driveway. 

SLOW SEASON HOURS 

February to mid May:

Tues, Wed, and Thurs:  11:30 am to 1:30 pm

 Fri and Sat:  10 am to 6 pm

 Sunday                   CLOSED

 Monday                 CLOSED

You may request an appointment if you need a different time We will try to accommodate. Call my mobile phone and LEAVE A MESSAGE.  (916) 300-0720.

Here is what we have at the Farm Stand from Otow Orchard.

VEGETABLES:

Komatsuna:  Tender leafy green vegetable, thought of as a Japanese spinach.  Taste is more like bok choy, mild with slight mustard flavor.  Can be added to salad, stir-fries, and soup. 

 Beets:  Vibrant red and healthy root vegetable. Often boiled, roasted or pickled.  Can also be eaten raw.  The leaves are also desired for saute, and adding to soups and stews.  

Carrots:  They are NOT big, long and tough 🥕.  The carrots are tender, slender, sweet and tasty.  

 Salad Greens:  We have a tender mix of leafy green and baby romaine lettuces.

Sugar Snap Peas:  Fresh, crisp, and juicy. These sweet and crunchy peas can be enjoyed raw or gently cooked. Can be used for garnish.

 Broccolini:  similar to broccoli but milder and sweeter.  The florets  leaves and stems are all edible in stir fries, sauteed, grilled, steamed, roasted, and raw.

FRUIT:

Flavorrosa pluot:  Early, dark skinned pluot with red flash. It has a sweet fragrant flavor (limited supply).

Royal Rosa apricot:  This early season apricot is tasty, sweet and juicy (limited supply).

Loquat:  This early season tropical fruit is sweet and refreshing.  It is small and juicy with sweet mild flavor.  Texture is similar to ripe pears.  Contain a large seed.

 

Spring Rose white peach: Small but amazingly tasty, sweet and juicy peach (limited supply).

Red Beaut plum:  Early season plum. Juicy and yellow fleshed (limited supply).

Pakistani Mulberries:  Long stemmed, dark mulberries.  They are sweet and juicy (limited supply).

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  

Hoshigaki strips:  Thin slices of hoshigaki for snacking.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

Valencia:  These are juicing oranges but most people just peel and eat like any other orange. They are sweet and very juicy.

UME:  Japanese Sour plum. (Limited supply). Processed with salt, alcohol or sweetener.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

 

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.   

Here is what we have from other producers:

Arrow Place, Auburn, No spray.

Meyer Lemons:   These sought after lemons are less acidic than regular lemons. They have a thin peel often used for its fragrant zest.  Meyer are rounder than regular lemons with a dark yellow skin.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.

The California Persimmon:  A book published by the ANR covering history and background of persimmons. Contains many new and traditional persimmon recipes.