NOW THAT IT IS FALL

 Now that it is Fall, farm stand offerings have definitely changed.  We are looking at apples, pears, and Asian pears.  Bartlet pear season is almost finished and Comice and D'anjou, the winter pears, won't be ready till November.  Our apples continue to be hard to find.  We are getting Mutsu apples from Sunnyslope Farm.  One of our favorite Asian pears is Shinko a brown pear with crisp, sweet flesh.

We have started to harvest persimmons.  The Hachiya persimmon starts off hard, puckery and inedible. That sounds pretty bad! Given time it becomes a sweet pudding-like mass in its own skin. You can spoon out the contents

or just break the skin and suck out the the contents.  Watch out for the seeds.  Hachiya are often used in baking cookies, puddings and breads.  We are also harvesting brown fleshed persimmons:  Maru, Nagamaru (also called Chocolate or Tusrunoko), and Coffee Cake.  If pollinated they will be brown fleshed and sweet.  If not pollinated  they will be yellow fleshed and puckery.  We are never really sure, so it is best to slice the fruit to check for the brown flesh before biting into it.

With Fall, it is time to think about comfort food.  Winter squash is on the list.  We have Delicata, Kabocha, Black Futsu and Red Kuri.  These squashes can be steamed, roasted, baked or microwaved with sweet or savory additions. Some cooks may add them to soup, stew or curry.

It will soon be time for us to start drying persimmons.  We are busy cleaning and arranging the persimmon yard for this annual activity. We are selling hoshigaki from last season.  It is available at the farm stand as whole pieces.   If you wish to mail order hoshigaki, please click here mail order form   As always we encourage you to get your mail order form in early as orders are filled in the order received.  The Hachiya crop is somewhat limited this year and the work force is a little older.

 

HOURS:

Tues through Sat   10 am to 6 pm

Sun.                       11 am to 5 pm

Closed on Mondays

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

Yellow Flesh Plums:
      Casselman:  firm, sweet tart and juicy

Grapes:

        Kyoho: Large, purple, seeded grapes with concord-like flavor

        Thompson seedless: small intensely sweet grapes

Hoshigaki:  whole

Jujube:  Li

Asian Pears:  Shinko, 20th Century, Okusankichi,

European Pears: Bartlet (limited supply)

Apples: (Limited supply) Fuji, Red Delicious

Pomegranates:(Limited supply) White

Brown fleshed Persimmons: Maru, Nagamaru, Coffee Cake

Hachiya persimmons: Must be soft to be sweet
Honey and bee pollen from bees at Otow Orchard
Calendula Salve and Lip Balm
Cucumbers:  Asian, Lemon and Armenian (limited supply)
Okra

Winter squash:  Delicata, Kabocha, Black Futsu, Red Kuri

Persimmon Pulp


Here is what we have from other producers: 

Sunnyslope Farm: Mutsu apples, conventionally grown. Fresh eating or cooking.

Wood Rose Country Garden: American eggplant, basil, bell peppers
Top O' the Hill Apiary:  Honey, and comb honey
Eggs from Two Feather Farm in Granite Bay
Jams from the Good Stuff. We currently have Plum (Santa Rosa), Peach Cardamon, Chili Apricot, Pepper Pomegranate, Fig Orange Brandy, Chili Blackberry, and Quince Marmalade

FALL FRUIT: PEARS, GRAPES, APPLES, JUJUBE AND FIGS

      Sad to see peach season ending.  Peaches we have now are not like the ones in July and August.  These late season peaches will be gone in a week.  They are better eaten on the firm side and still have good flavor with less juice and sweetness than the mid summer crop.  The next great peaches will be appearing in late June 2021, we hope.

     Fall is setting in and with it comes apples and pears.  We have a small crop of striped red delicious apples. These are fresh, sweet and juicy.  Bartlet pears  have been in storage for about 2 weeks and as we bring them out they begin to glow with classic yellow pear color.  They are sweet and juicy with smooth tender flesh.

 

      We have two yellow and two  brown skinned varieties of Asian pears.  Unlike European pears, Asian pears are eaten firm.  They are sweet juicy and crisp like a light textured apple.

       The grapes are in full season now. Red Purlett and Thompson seedless grapes are sweet and juicy now.  The Kyoho, seeded, grape is full of "concord-like" flavor and seems to have developed a fan base over the years.

 

      The second and final crop of  figs is now appearing.  We have Black Mission, Brown Turkey, and Green Penache figs.  This second crop is smaller in size but still has intense flavor.

       We are just starting the jujube harvest.  We started with the small Sugar Cane variety and are also getting Li Jujube.  I think of them as nutritional, easy to eat snack food.

       The summer garden is starting to slow down.  We are still getting cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant and okra.  WoodRose Country Garden is adding tomatoes, eggplant, bell peppers. jalapenos, Anaheim peppers, Poblano peppers, and basil. The first of the winter squash has arrived.  We have tender sweet delicata  squash.

      We are selling hoshigaki from last season.  It is available at the farm stand as whole pieces.  We are curtailing mail orders till the weather cools, probably late September or October if we still have a supply.

      There are several local honey choices at this time.  Our own beekeeper has honey from Otow Orchard as well as orange blossom honey from a valley citrus grove.  Top O' the Hill Apiary in Granite Bay has honey and  boxes of beautiful comb honey.

HOURS:

Tues through Sat   10 am to 6 pm

Sun.                       11 am to 5 pm

Closed on Mondays

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

Yellow Flesh Plums:
      Casselman:  firm, sweet tart and juicy

Yellow Freestone Peaches:

      Summerset

      Late Alamar

      Fairtime

Grapes:

        Kyoho: Large, purple, seeded grapes with concord-like flavor

        Red Purlett:  Red, seedless, sweet grapes

        Thompson seedless: small intensely sweet grapes
Figs:  Brown Turkey, Penache, Black Mission

Hoshigaki:  whole
Honey and bee pollen from bees at Otow Orchard
Calendula Salve and Lip Balm
Tomatoes:  red,  heirloom, Roma, cherry
Chilies
Cucumbers:  Asian, Lemon and Armenian
Asian eggplant
Okra

Delicata winter squash

Persimmon Pulp


Here is what we have from other producers:
Yellow Peaches from Sunnyslope Farm (conventionally grown):  Tra Zee

Wood Rose Country Garden: American eggplant, basil, jalapenos, bell peppers, tomatoes, Anaheim and Poblano peppers.
Orange Blossom Honey from our bee keeper
Top O' the Hill Apiary:  Honey, and comb honey
Eggs from Two Feather Farm in Granite Bay
Jams from the Good Stuff. We currently have Plum (Santa Rosa), Peach Cardamon, Chili Apricot, Pepper Pomegranate, Fig Orange Brandy, Chili Blackberry, and Quince Marmalade