Queasy, the Horse

I'm sorry to say that Queasy, the horse died today.  He was Maya's horse who lived at the edge of the orchard. He had lived at the orchard for a lot of years. 

Early Asian Pears and Lots of Tomatoes

Japanese Oxheart, Roma, Sungold, red and black cherry, and Indigo Rose tomatoes

This week we picked some of the first two early varieties of Asian pear, hosui and kosui. More varieties should be ready to pick from now through about November.  These first few varieties of Asian pear were ready a week or so early, like most of the plums and peaches have been.

There are currently 9 varieties of plums available at the fruit stand.  We're  running out of space to display them all, so we can only put out a little bit of each kind.  If you want more of something, feel free to ask us.

Now we have lots of different kinds of tomatoes.  For cherry and small salad tomatoes we have sungold, black cherry, red cherry, Indigo Rose, and Pink Ping Pong. We also have roma type tomatoes, various kinds of regular red tomatoes, and purple, pink, orange and yellow heirlooms.

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

• Peaches--49'er, Suncrest, Fay Elberta,  Gene Elberta, Elberta, Bowen (all yellow freestone varieties); Bowen (yellow cling);  White Lady, Elegant Lady, Babcock, Silver Logan (white freestone varieties)  
• Plums--Kelsey, Elephant Heart, Mariposa, Late Santa Rosa, Black Amber, Laroda, Eldorado, Late Duarte
• Pluots--Dapple Dandy, Flavor Queen, Flavor King
• Valencia Oranges
• Vegetables--Tomatoes (regular, cherry, salad, heirlooms), Zucchini, Summer Squash, Swiss chard, Eggplant (small Japanese and small Italian types), Cucumber (Japanese, Armenian, lemon), peppers (sweet)
• Herbs--Oregano, Mint, green and red shiso, Basil (cut if you ask) 
• Honey--from bees at our orchard 
• Free Range Chicken eggs
• Beeswax candles--handmade 100% beeswax
• The Art of Real Food Cookbook--by Joanne Neft and Laura Kenney

Suncrest Peach Emergency

We now have too many ripe Suncrest peaches at the fruit stand.  Suncrest peaches are a sweet, juicy yellow heirloom peach that are difficult to find. Although they are very delicious, Suncrest ripen quickly and are fragile.
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.

Suncrest peaches are now at a reduced price at the fruit stand. Right now we have lots of these flavorful peaches, but we won't for long, since once they're picked they don't keep.

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. His latest is a peach cookbook called The Perfect Peach:  Recipes and Stories from the Masumoto Family Farm.
 
Here's what's at the fruit stand now: 

• Peaches--Suncrest, Gene Elberta, 49'er, Delight (all yellow varieties), Arctic White, White Lady, Babcock, Silver Logan (white varieties)  
• Plums--Santa Rosa, Black Amber, Laroda, 
• Pluots--Dapple Dandy, Flavor Queen
• Blackberries--wild from around the orchard 
• Valencia Oranges
• Vegetables--Tomatoes (regular, cherry, heirlooms), Zucchini, Summer Squash, Swiss chard, Eggplant (small Japanese and small Italian types), Cucumber (Japanese, Armenian, lemon), beans (green and Chinese long), peppers (sweet)
• Herbs--Oregano, Mint, Basil (cut if you ask) 
• Honey--from bees at our orchard 
• Free Range Chicken eggs
• Beeswax candles--handmade 100% beeswax
• The Art of Real Food Cookbook--by Joanne Neft and Laura Kenney