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.