Otow Orchard Fruit Stand: April 2021

Saturday, April 24, 2021

GIVE US ANOTHER MONTH

Immature ume

Immature Loquat

Customers are coming to the orchard asking for peaches, plums, loquat and mulberries. I tell them "Give us another month." These future crops look good for now but are still very green and small. We are still in danger of damage from a a hail storm or a late freeze. Rain however would still be welcome.

I am taking orders for ume, Japanese sour plums. Please see the April 7, 2021 entry below for ume details. Looks like the harvest will be from mid May through June. Please call (916)791-1656 or email: otoworchard@yahoo.com if you will be picking up your order at the orchard.

For mail orders, please use page 2 of the 2020 Mail Order form to send us your order information and check. We ship 8 pounds of ume in a USPS priority mail box. The cost is $111 per box. This includes shipping and handling.

Hoshigaki is available at the farm stand. With the temperature rising, we are keeping it in the refrigerator or freezer. The time is coming when temperatures will affect the quality of hoshigaki sent by mail. At this time we can still send them. Please use our mail order form if you want to order hoshigaki through the mail.

SLOW SEASON HOURS:

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

Friday and Saturday 10 am to 6 pm

Sunday 11 am to 5 pm

Closed on Mondays

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

Hoshigaki: Tender and moist dried persimmons with naturally formed dusting of fruit sugars on the surface. These were hand massaged and dried slowly for 4 to 8 weeks.

Eureka Lemons: deep yellow skin and tart juicy flesh. 🍋 Best lemons to bring out the brightness desired in lemonade and lemon meringue pie.

Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard

Calendula Salve and Lip Balm

Dehydrated peaches

Herbs: fresh mint, rosemary, thyme, and sage

Here is what we have from other producers:

WoodRose Country Garden in Granite Bay: Fresh 🥗 Romaine Lettuce, Red Romaine. Red Leaf Lettuce, Butter Crunch Lettuce, cauliflower and green onions.

Top O' the Hill Apiary in Granite Bay: Comb honey can be used in tea, coffee, yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream, fruit salads and on toast or bagels. Top of the Hill Apiary also has Bees wax. 🐝

Nastase Honey Farm in Lincoln: This Honey 🍯 is unfiltered and raw.

Two Feather Farm in Granite Bay: 🐔🥚 Eggs. Egg production is up. The hens are well rested and are happy with warmer weather and longer days. 🌞

Jams 🍑 from the Good Stuff. We currently have Plum (Santa Rosa), Peach Cardamon, Chili Apricot, Pepper Pomegranate, Fig Orange Brandy, and Chili Blackberry.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

UME, GRAPEFRUIT, LEMONS AND HOSHIGAKI

We are still in our slow season with modified hours. The farm stand is offering grapefruit, lemons, hoshigaki, eggs, jams and honey. As the pandemic restrictions relax we are allowing a few small groups to walk in the orchard.

It's time to think about ume, Japanese sour plums, which look more like apricots. Whether processing with salt, sugar, alcohol or honey, it is a challenge. If you are interested in ordering ume, please read carefully. There is quite a bit of fruit hanging on the trees but there is also a lot of damaged fruit. Wind, rain and hail blemished most of the fruit. I will not be highly grading the ume this year. We will sell a modified field run grade (what we pick off the tree will be sold with

minimal sorting). I have used blemished ume for my own purposes in the past. The spots are mostly superficial with no effect on the taste. At this time the ume is still immature. We will possibly harvest from the end of April through mid-June. If you will be picking up your order at the farm please call ahead so we can put your name on the list and prepare your order as the harvest proceeds. For Mail orders, please use page 2 of the 2020 Mail Order form to send us your order information and check. We ship 8 pounds of ume in a USPS priority mail box. The cost is $111 per box. This includes shipping and handling.

Please keep checking this page on our web site for updates on ume. We will let you know if we get conventional ume from other local producers. Give us a call or send an email if you have any questions.

This has once again been a dry winter. We are checking the irrigation system for maintenance and leaks. All too soon we will have to start watering the trees. Fruit thinning is just around the corner. I can already see very small peaches and plums on the trees.

We continue to process and sell hoshigaki, dried persimmons. These can be purchased at the farm or by sending us a mail order form.

Slow Season Hours started March 2, 2021. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday hours remain the same. But Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday hours are changed to 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. If you need to stop by outside of these hours you are welcome to contact us since we are often at the farm somewhere. If we are near the farm stand we will answer the land line: (916) 791-1656. If we are out in the orchard or garden it is best to text or leave a message on my cell phone since I do not answer unrecognized calls. (916) 300-0720.