JULY 4 AND 5 2025

 July 4 and 5 we  will be open with shorter hours.

 

July 4 open 10 am to 2 pm

July 5 open 10 am to 2 pm

Regular hours will resume on Sunday July 6. 

 Regular Hours

    Tues thru Sat  10:00 am to 6:00 pm

    Sunday 11:00 to 5:00

    Closed on Mondays 

 

 

 

FINALLY A TASTE OF SUMMER

     This week we started harvesting some peaches and plums.  Slowly we are beginning to see peaches, plums, pluots, and nectarines ripening on the trees.  Not enough to make all our customers happy.  Hopefully they can be patient.  And when we let a small tray go out the door we try to caution people to let the fruit set on the counter a couple days to bring out the flavor and sweetness and juice.

       In the peach department, we are harvesting Flavorcrest, a yellow freestone peach.  I never think these early freestone  peaches like to come apart as easily as the later peaches.  Red Haven and Regina peaches are coming off the trees.  Two favorite varieties of many of our customers.  They will be at their peak for a week.  So don't miss out.

      In the plum department, the Santa Rosas are quickly coming to maturity.   I'll be sorting a hundred boxes this week.  These all time  favorite plum will be available for about a month.  Occasionally we get a few red flesh plums: Burgundy, Black Splendor, and Frontier.

     Apricot season was unusually productive.  We are winding  down the apricot season with Royal Blenheim. 

     We have cleaned up the citrus trees. Next year's crop is already hanging on the trees.  They are still very small and very green. This year's Eureka lemons and Valencia oranges that we harvested will keep nicely in the cool room for a few weeks.  

     The time we put into our gardens is starting to pay off.  Slowly we are getting zucchini and yellow summer squash. Armenian and Japanese cucumber are also starting their harvest.  The tomatoes are still green although I am beginning to pick some cherry tomatoes.

 

 

 Hours

    Tues thru Sat  10:00 am to 6:00 pm

    Sunday 11:00 to 5:00

    Closed on Mondays 

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

Apricots:

Blenheim (Royal): Old and very popular variety. Although small, this variety is aromatic and full of flavor.  Don't be fooled by the greenish shoulders, the Blenheim is juicy and sweet with tangy background. Customers keep coming back for them. Blenheims are used for canning baking, drying and fresh eating.

 

PEACHES

Flavorcrest: Yellow freestone peach. Tasty early season firm fleshed peach. Juicier and sweeter when left to ripen on the counter.

Regina: Yellow freestone peach.  Sweet and juicy as it ripens.  

Red Haven:  Yellow freestone peach.  Great flavor, sweet and juicy. 

June Pride:  Yellow freestone peach with dark red skin and intense flavor. Enjoyed on the firm side but will ripen to be soft and juicy. 

Sugar Lady: White freestone peach.  This pink to red skinned white peach is sweet and fragrant.  Can be enjoyed on the firm side or left to become soft, juicy and sweet.

PLUMS

Santa Rosa:  Old sought after variety for their rich aromatic flavor.  Early season Santa Rosa have yellow flesh that is sweet tart. Late season Santa Rosa have red flesh and are all sweet.  Soon their fragrance will fill our farm stand. They are great for fresh eating and have been known to win jam contest for their flavor and sweet tart contrast.

Burgundy:  Dark skin over red flesh.  Sweet, mild tasting plum with firm flesh.

 

Jade Nectarines:  Sweet and tasty white nectarine.  Limited Supply. 

 Figs:  Black Mission and Panache figs.  Breba crop. Limited Supply.

 

  Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They were hand massaged while they dried over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  Hoshigaki are now available in the farm stand.  Contact us for large on-farm pick-up orders. (916) 791-1656 or email at otowochard@yahoo.com. 

 Hoshigaki strips:  These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.

 Hachiya Pulp:  Frozen Hachiya persimmon pulp is available. Often used to make cookies, puddings and breads.  Many customers put it on yogurt and oatmeal  or add it to their smoothie.

Eureka Lemons:  These are very tart lemons. Great for contrast in sweet and sour recipes like:  lemonade, lemon meringue pie, sweet and sour pork, and lemon bars.

Valencia Oranges:  Sweet juicing oranges. 

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.

Summer Squash:

Green and Yellow Zucchini.

Yellow crookneck  

Cucumbers:

Armenian:  Light and dark green in color.  Young cucumbers have few seeds.  Background flavor of melon. 

Asian cucumbers:  Bumpy or spiny. Long green seedless cucumbers. Sweet, flavorful and often burpless. Melon rind-like flavor.

Here is what we have from other producers:

Stoney Point Orchard,  Loomis, CA organic certified:

    Rio Red Grapefruit:   Juicy and sweet with a bit of tartness. Flesh is pink.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.  Limited supply.

Onions:  La Bella Vito Farm is bringing us red, yellow, and white onions sustainably grown in Loomis, CA. 

Fresh Bouquets of colorful in-season flowers from La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. 

 

The California Persimmon Recipe Book:  Introduction to basic persimmon knowledge followed by recipes for the different types of persimmons.

Krumel Family no spray:  Black mission figs.

NOT WINTER BUT SUMMER

 It's not winter, so hoshigaki season is on the back burner. It is still available at the farm stand but not through mail order.  And now we switch our attention to things of summer like stone fruit and veggies.

The peach season has started but it seems that they sell almost as soon as they are brought into the farm stand.  Don't worry, much more is on the way.  A few lucky customers were able to snag some of the Springrose or Springcrest peaches.  There will soon be Maycrest and Junecrest.  Then we will start harvesting Flavorcrest and Regina peaches.  

Apricots are happy this year.  I'm not sure why but something in the weather we were handed was agreeable to them.  Robada and Royal Rosa apricots sold out quickly.  Now we are bring in Blenheim (Royal) and Patterson.  Both are excellent varieties.

It is an unusual year. Not only do we have a good harvest of apricots but there are also respectable nectarines on the trees.  Meaning they are not quite as scarred up and cracked as we normally have.  There will be a limited amount of white Jade nectarines in the near future.

Loquats are now producing small, sweet and juicy fruit.  Between the large brown seed and the firm yellow skin is sweet juicy flesh.

SANTA ROSA plums are starting ripen.  These are the most popular and sought after variety of plums. They  have a distinctive flavor and enticing fragrance. They are both sweet and  sour at the beginning of the season.  Later ones are all sweet and juicy.  

We are now offering flowers.  The fresh flower bouquets are coming from La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. The bouquets are garden fresh and contain colorful in-season blooms.  Come check them out.

Slowly the gardens are starting to produce.  Green and yellow summer squash have both made their debut.  A few Sungold cherry tomatoes are getting ready.  Sorry, but big tomatoes and cucumber are weeks away.

 Last fall we dried and massaged persimmons to make hoshigaki.  The ones that did not sell were stored in the freezer.  We will be slowly selling these at the farm stand.  Most of the hoshigaki that we will be selling are firmer or not as sugared as we like.  Nonetheless they retain the favor of hoshigaki.  We cut firmer hoshigaki  into strips and are sold in snack bags.  All this this say hoshigaki is not available through mail order at this time.  Most likely mail order will be available late November and December.  People are encouraged to look for the 2025 Mail order form in October and send their order in early.

 

 Hours

    Tues thru Sat  10:00 am to 6:00 pm

    Sunday 11:00 to 5:00

    Closed on Mondays 

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

Apricots:

 Patterson:  This apricot has good flavor and can be used for canning, baking drying and fresh eating.  When ripened it is both flavorful and sweet with tangy background. 

Blenheim (Royal): Old and very popular variety. Although small, this variety is aromatic and full of flavor.  Don't be fooled by the greenish shoulders the Blenheim is juicy and sweet with tangy background. Customers keep coming back for them. Blenheims are used for canning baking, drying and fresh eating.

Loquat:  A subtropical fruit popularized in Asia.  Loquat are small round or pear-shaped fruit that grow in clusters.  They are covered with a downy orange skin. The flesh is also orange containing 2 to 4 oval brown seeds.  The taste is tangy, sweet and juicy. We often refer to these as memory fruit.  Children walking to school would sampling them from landscape trees along their route to school.

 

PEACHES

 Maycrest:  Yellow freestone peach.

Junecrest: Yellow freestone peach.

Flavorcrest: Yellow freestone peach.

Regina: Yellow freestone peach.

PLUMS

Santa Rosa:  Old sought after variety for their rich aromatic flavor.  Early season Santa Rosa have yellow flesh that is sweet tart. Late season Santa Rosa have red flesh and are all sweet.  Soon their fragrance will fill our farm stand. They are great for fresh eating and have been known to win jam contest for their flavor and sweet tart contrast.

  Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They were hand massaged while they dried over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  Hoshigaki are now available in the farm stand.  Contact us for large on-farm pick-up orders. (916) 791-1656 or email at otowochard@yahoo.com. 

 Hoshigaki strips:  These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.

 Hachiya Pulp:  Frozen Hachiya persimmon pulp is available. Often used to make cookies, puddings and breads.  Many customers put it on yogurt and oatmeal  or add it to their smoothie.

Eureka Lemons:  These are very tart lemons. Great for contrast in sweet and sour recipes like:  lemonade, lemon meringue pie, sweet and sour pork, and lemon bars.

Yellow grapefruit:  Sweet tart grapefruit with yellow flesh.  This variety has great flavor.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.

Peach trees:  We have a few peach trees for planting.  Regina peaches are  a yellow freestone peach that is harvested around the end of June. 

Pakistani Mulberries:  Long dark mulberries. Very sweet. Available only to those on the request list. Call to get on the list.

Summer Squash:

Green and Yellow Zucchini.

Yellow crookneck  

Here is what we have from other producers:

Stoney Point Orchard,  Loomis, CA organic certified:

    Rio Red Grapefruit:   Juicy and sweet with a bit of tartness. Flesh is pink.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.  Limited supply.

Fresh Bouquets of colorful in-season flowers from La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. 

 

The California Persimmon Recipe Book:  Introduction to basic persimmon knowledge followed by recipes for the different types of persimmons.

 

 

 

 

SUMMERTIME ON ITS WAY

     How quickly summer is approaching.  Not only is the weather telling me this but the fruit on the trees are showing signs.   In the blink of an eye the first variety of early peaches are gone. Not many trees and only a few lucky people got them.   Our ume crop was very damaged but a few customers are trying their best to process them.   If successful,  I'm sure it will taste fabulous.   

 

    We are about ready to begin the Spring Crest peach harvest.   These are yellow flesh, freestone peaches. It doesn't happen every year but we are surprised to have apricots this year.   The first variety is Royal  Rosa.  It will be followed by Robada and then Blenheim or Royal.

 

    The farm stand hours will revert to our regular hours on Tuesday June 3.  Starting June 3 our hours will be:  

    Tues thru Sat  10:00 am to 6:00 pm

    Sunday 11:00 to 5:00

    Closed on Mondays 

 

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

Apricots:

     Royal Rosa:  Our first apricot of the season.  It is sweet with mild, low acid flavor. 

     Robada:    Our second apricot of the season.  This one is very attractive with its size and beautiful reddish blush.  Robada has orange flesh, good flavor and fragrance.

Loquat:  A subtropical fruit popularized in Asia.  Loquat are small round or pear-shaped fruit that grow in clusters.  They are covered with a downy orange skin. The flesh is also orange containing 2 to 4 oval brown seeds.  The taste is tangy, sweet and juicy. We often refer to these as memory fruit.  Children walking to school would sampling them from landscape trees along their route to school.

 

Peaches

Springcrest: Our first of the season yellow freestone peach.  Beautiful red and yellow fuzzy skin over juicy orange mild flesh. We call it an early season peach.

  Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They were hand massaged while they dried over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  Hoshigaki are now available in the farm stand.  Contact us for large on-farm pick-up orders. (916) 791-1656 or email at otowochard@yahoo.com.  For mail orders please use our 2024  mail order form.

 Hoshigaki strips:  These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.

 Hachiya Pulp:  Frozen Hachiya persimmon pulp is available. Often used to make cookies, puddings and breads.  Many customers put it on yogurt and oatmeal  or add it to their smoothie.

Eureka Lemons:  These are very tart lemons. Great for contrast in sweet and sour recipes like:  lemonade, lemon meringue pie, sweet and sour pork, and lemon bars.

Yellow grapefruit:  Sweet tart grapefruit with yellow flesh.  This variety has great flavor.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.

Peach trees:  We have a few peach trees for planting.  Regina peaches are  a yellow freestone peach that is harvested around the end of June. 

Pakistani Mulberries:  Long dark mulberries. Very sweet. Available only to those on the request list. Call to get on the list.

Here is what we have from other producers:

Stoney Point Orchard,  Loomis, CA organic certified:

    Rio Red Grapefruit:   Juicy and sweet with a bit of tartness. Flesh is pink.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.  Limited supply.

 

The California Persimmon Recipe Book:  Introduction to basic persimmon knowledge followed by recipes for the different types of persimmons.

 

 

END OF HOSHIGAKI SPECIAL

      Our Hoshigaki Special has ended.  Thank you to  new and old customers for helping us adjust our supply.  We are now in a good place to have a moderate supply of hoshigaki for the next 5 months till the 2025 season for drying persimmons begins.  

      Hoshigaki is available at the farm stand and through mail order.

For mail orders please use our 2024  mail order form.

AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES

     When I was growing up on this farm, my parents were farmers.  They needed to grow the most and the best looking crop they could so it would produce big pieces of fruit and beautiful unblemished fruit that would be marketable.  My parents could not just grow fruit on a whim.  They had to care for the trees so the crop would be salable.  But in the process trees showed signs of disease and fruit attracted pests.  So the advice at that time was to find an additive, usually a chemical, that would get rid of the disease or pest. Loosely defined, this is conventional agriculture.  Trees need nitrogen, then add nitrogen fertilizers to the soil. Trees get a virus, then spray them with a chemical to kill the virus.  Years later, people became aware that adding chemicals was not the best thing for the soil, or for people. Government put in place numerous regulations to determine how much and which chemicals are safe to be used.  The industry has since looked for other ways of controlling diseases and pests, and for ways to build the soil and keep people healthy. Today we see organic, sustainable, regenerative, climate-smart, and combinations of agricultural practices.  

        So what practices are used at Otow Orchard. It's been almost 20  years since we transitioned from spraying pesticides to giving up all sprays on this farm.  We are sometimes tempted to apply organically accepted sprays.  There are many organically approved sprays currently  in use.  These include bacteria or viruses that disrupt the targeted pest or disease and not effect humans or the environment.  Some sprays are natural clays that surround produce to protect it from pests, disease, smoke or sunburn.  At this point we have not used any of these. We like to say that our practices are "No Spray" agriculture. 

       How do we deal with pests and diseases? Thankfully, many of our customers are tolerant of scarred, misshaped and under-sized fruit.  I will add that we do use mating disruption lures to control worms. Many of our customers were put off when told that fruit might contain worms.  Luckily there is an organic practice of using mating disruption lures that has worked very well on our orchard for the past 14 years. The lure we hang in the tree attracts the male moth.  He thinks he can smell a female moth but cannot find her.  This results in fewer matings and fewer eggs to be laid and therefore fewer worms to be hatched. We also have a small army of good bugs feasting on bad bugs in our orchard.  We also discovered that keeping diseased fruit off the orchard floor decreased the presence of disease.  

       For another few weeks citrus will dominate our offerings at the farm stand.  Then gradually we will start to get loquat, peaches and apricots then plums.  

        We are still on modified hours.  When harvest begins we will  revert to our full time hours.

 

Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Open Tues,Wed and Thurs only two hours 11:30 to 1:30

Open Fri and Sat:   10 am to 6 pm

 

 

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

 Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They were hand massaged while they dried over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  Hoshigaki are now available in the farm stand.  Contact us for large on-farm pick-up orders. (916) 791-1656 or email at otowochard@yahoo.com.  For mail orders please use our 2024  mail order form.

 Hoshigaki strips:  These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.

 Hachiya Pulp:  Frozen Hachiya persimmon pulp is available. Often used to make cookies, puddings and breads.  Many customers put it on yogurt and oatmeal  or add it to their smoothie.

Eureka Lemons:  These are very tart lemons. Great for contrast in sweet and sour recipes like:  lemonade, lemon meringue pie, sweet and sour pork, and lemon bars.

Yellow grapefruit:  Sweet tart grapefruit with yellow flesh.  This variety has great flavor.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.

Peach trees:  We have a few peach trees for planting.  Regina peaches are  a yellow freestone peach that is harvested around the end of June. 

Pakistani Mulberries:  Long dark mulberries. Very sweet. Available only to those on the request list. Call to get on the list.

Ume: Japanese sour plums (apricot).  Limited supply.  Available only to those on the request list.  Call (916) 791-1656 or email otoworchard@yahoo.com to get on the list.  This year's crop was damaged by multiple hail storms in March.  As the fruit grew, so did the scaring.  All fruit is damaged. Some customers will still process with salt, sweetener or alcohol even with the scars.  They are just looking for the unique flavor and fragrance of ume.

Here is what we have from other producers:

Arrow Place in Auburn, no spray practices:

Meyer Lemons:  These lemons have dark yellow skin and are less acidic than regular lemons.  Known for their flavor and fragrance.  Skin is thin and is often used for its fragrant zest.

Stoney Point Orchard,  Loomis, CA organic certified:

    Rio Red Grapefruit:   Juicy and sweet with a bit of tartness. Flesh is pink.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.  Limited supply.

 

The California Persimmon Recipe Book:  Introduction to basic persimmon knowledge followed by recipes for the different types of persimmons.

No tomatoes yet.

Immature persimmons

Pomegranate blossom

 

HOSHIGAKI SPECIAL

    How to begin.  Not much yet so much.  The farm stand has only a few offerings, grapefruit, lemons and hoshigaki.  Yet we are busy everyday preparing for the next harvest.  Mow the weeds, repair machinery, plant trees, water trees, repair irrigation, inventory trees in  the ground and those removed, prepare the ground for vegetables, dig out bindweed and more bindweed, make beds for tomatoes, water plant starts, plant tomatoes,  white wash the newly planted tender trees, thin off unwanted green peach, plum, apricot and pluots, harvest grapefruit and lemons...

 

Every year is different.

This year we need help depleting our supply of hoshigaki.  We are offering one free pound of unsorted hoshigaki for every 4 pounds of unsorted hoshigaki you purchase at the farm stand (B4G1).  We had a long hoshigaki season in 2024 and kept peeling and drying longer than in most years.  For the mail order special offer, please send email to: otoworchard@yahoo.com

 The trees are now leafed out and we can see small immature fruit hanging on the trees.  We will spend many hours going over each tree, each branch and each twig to remove damaged, small, misshapen, crowded fruit. We do this by human hand and always miss a few.

    Now is the time for citrus lovers.  We have juicy pink and yellow  grapefruit. We have Meyer lemons and the sour Eureka lemons.  A few Valencia, juicing oranges, are starting to come in.

    Please remember our winter hours are short.

 

Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Open Tues,Wed and Thurs only two hours 11:30 to 1:30

Open Fri and Sat:   10 am to 6 pm

 

 

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

 Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They were hand massaged while they dried over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  Hoshigaki are now available in the farm stand.  Contact us for large on-farm pick-up orders. (916) 791-1656 or email at otowochard@yahoo.com.  For mail orders please send an email to:  otoworchard@yahoo.com

 Hoshigaki strips:  These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.

 Hachiya Pulp:  Frozen Hachiya persimmon pulp is available. Often used to make cookies, puddings and breads.  Many customers put it on yogurt and oatmeal  or add it to their smoothie.

Eureka Lemons:  These are very tart lemons. Great for contrast in sweet and sour recipes like:  lemonade, lemon meringue pie, sweet and sour pork, and lemon bars.

Yellow grapefruit:  Sweet tart grapefruit with yellow flesh.  This variety has great flavor.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.

Peach trees:  We have a few peach trees for planting.  Regina peaches are  a yellow freestone peach that is harvested around the end of June.

Here is what we have from other producers:

Karen's Place: No spray practices. Valencia Oranges are sweet and juicy. Often used to make juice.

 

    

Arrow Place in Auburn, no spray practices:

Meyer Lemons:  These lemons have dark yellow skin and are less acidic than regular lemons.  Known for their flavor and fragrance.  Skin is thin and is often used for its fragrant zest.

Stoney Point Orchard,  Loomis, CA organic certified:

    Rio Red Grapefruit:   Juicy and sweet with a bit of tartness. Flesh is pink.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.  Limited supply.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis  is bringing us fresh and fragrant floral bouquets.  

 

The California Persimmon Recipe Book:  Introduction to basic persimmon knowledge followed by recipes for the different types of persimmons.

HAIL STORM

Winter Hours:

Closed Sundays and Mondays.

Open Tues,Wed and Thurs only two hours 11:30 to 1:30

Open Fri and Sat:   10 am to 6 pm

    Please note, we will be closed on Sundays and Mondays till mid May.  We are open Friday and Saturday and have abbreviated hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.   Sorry for the inconvenience.  You are welcome to call me for special hours at (916) 300-0720, or (916) 791-1656.

 

March 17, 2025.  Little pea sized kernals of ice.  A blast of rain drops and with it came the hail.  I doubt many fruit or leaves that were exposed  got away undamaged.  Fortunately it is still early in the season and many trees have not yet put out leaves or tiny fruit.  The ume crop however was on its way to being big enough to thin off the less desirable fruitlets. The plums that had already set were so small that the hail probably just knocked them off the tree.  The peaches are just at the beginning stages of bloom so only a few fruits were formed.  We will see how much is left to harvest.  So this is farming.  Not much we can do about the weather.  I'm hoping that we can avoid more hail events going forward.  But, we are not in charge.

On the brighter side lets talk about eggs.   Our chicken farmer, La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis, is feeling the effects of longer days. The older hens are producing more regularly.  The young ones are starting to lay small eggs.  With the shortage of eggs, we are happy to get even these smaller eggs to sell.  Supply is still limited, please call during open hours if you want to reserve eggs (916) 791-1656.

Stoney Point Orchard in Loomis has delivered its last picking of certified organic Tango mandarins.  Now the trees are empty till next season.  The supply is very limited and will be sold out quickly.  Stoney Point also delivered Rio Red grapefruit and Navel oranges. These are juicy, sweet and tasty.

Our orchard is waking up.  We see blossoms and green leaves pushing out of their winter shell. The weeds are flourishing and will soon add different colors to our green carpet.  Yellow, purple and white mustard as well as golden poppies.  A week ago I spotted some beneficial insects: lady beetles (ladybugs) and lacewing. I'm happy to see them since we use them to keep pest populations low. This is important since we do not use sprays. Under ground the gophers are waking up. Tree roots and vegetable roots are at risk from these hungry rodents.  Many homeowners despise coyotes but I am happy to see a few patrolling the farm.

 

 

 

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

 Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They were hand massaged while they dried over a period of four to eight weeks.  Some are firm, others are soft and moist.  All are coated with naturally formed white persimmon sugar.  No sugar added and no preservatives used. We strive to make the best hoshigaki without any shortcuts.  This takes time and attention during the drying season.  Hoshigaki are now available in the farm stand.  Contact us for large on-farm pick-up orders. (916) 791-1656 or email at otowochard@yahoo.com.  For mail orders please use our 2024 mail order form. 

 Hoshigaki strips:  These are pieces of hoshigaki sliced for easy snacking.

 Hachiya Pulp:  Frozen Hachiya persimmon pulp is available. Often used to make cookies, puddings and breads.  Many customers put it on yogurt and oatmeal  or add it to their smoothie.

Eureka Lemons:  These are very tart lemons. Great for contrast in sweet and sour recipes like:  lemonade, lemon meringue pie, sweet and sour pork, and lemon bars.

Yellow grapefruit:  Sweet tart grapefruit with yellow flesh.  This variety has great flavor.

Local Honey  Honey 🍯 from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard. Bee pollen from bees 🐝 at Otow Orchard is also available.

⚘ Calendula  Salve and Lip Balm:  Wonderfully thick salve for healing dry skin, bug bites and scrapes.

Peach trees:  These are bare root peach trees.  They should be planted in the next few weeks.

Here is what we have from other producers:

Pleasant Hill Farm in Lincoln, no spray.

    Navel Oranges:  Sweet and juicy, orange fleshed oranges.

    

Stoney Point Orchard,  Loomis, CA organic certified:

    

    Meyer Lemons:  These lemons have dark yellow skin and are less acidic than regular lemons.  Known for their flavor and fragrance.

  Skin is thin and is often used for its fragrant zest.

    Rio Red Grapefruit:   Juicy and sweet with a bit of tartness. Flesh is pink.

    Navel Oranges:  An orange is an orange.  Sweet juicy oranges.

La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis is bringing us fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens.  Limited supply.

 

The California Persimmon Recipe Book:  Introduction to basic persimmon knowledge followed by recipes for the different types of persimmons.

This Lady Beetle has only a few spots because it just emerged from its pupal state.