Fuyu

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

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