Thursday, September 25, 2008

Mail order form 2008


We have had a wonderful response to the showing of "Persimmons" on the PBS California Gold program. Some people who e-mailed me on Sept 24 were told to go to the Hoshigaki/Persimmons tab on our web site and click the "What's New" tab at the top of the page to get the mail order information. That is no longer true. Just go to the Hoshigaki/Persimmons tab on the web page to get to the Mail Order Form, or click here on the words in this post for a link. Sorry for misguiding you.

If you missed the program, it will be shown again on Oct. 9 in the Los Angeles area and also in the Sacramento area.

Above is a photo of our hoshigaki gift boxes.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Otow Orchard featured on PBS's California Gold


We have been told that the piece Huell Howser did about persimmons and making hoshigaki at Otow Orchard for the TV show California Gold will air tonight on PBS stations in Southern California. On October 9th it will air for the first time here in Northern California, and again in Southern California. .

Last Fall he and the show's crew came and spent part of a day filming and interviewing us when we were making hoshigaki (dried persimmons) at the orchard. We haven't yet seen the final version, but it seems that you can order it on the show's website.

In the photo you can see Toshio demonstrating how to make the "kaki knot" to string up a peeled persimmon (kaki) to dry for hoshigaki.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

What's in the Fruitstand


Right now in the fruitstand we have:

Plums--Casselman, Kelsey and Tom's Plum (a tart red plum grafted by our neighbor, Tom Koyama)
Peaches--a few Fairtime and Carnival, the last of the season
Asian Pear--Okusankichi, 20th Century, New Century, Shinko
Apples--Fuji, Yellow Delicious, Mutsu
Figs--a few left, the last of the season
Persimmons--a few very early maru

Vegetables--yellow and green summer squash, a few tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant, sweet and hot peppers, onions, garlic, the first butternut winter squash, and gourds

One variety of hot pepper we have is called "Fish pepper". It's an African-American hierloom variety of chile often used for flavoring fish. Slow Food's Ark of Taste has a good description of it.

Also, we still have a supply of last season's hoshigaki (dried persimmons) available for ordering.

Above is a photo of a ripening fuyu persimmon.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Murphy



We are sorry to say that Murphy died this past Friday. Murphy was the neighbors' dog that always visited the fruit stand. She had had cancer for quite a while, and no longer could walk or run and fetch sticks like she used to. Above is a photo of her at the orchard two Octobers ago, during persimmon season.

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