PEACHES, PLUMS, PLUOTS AND NECTARINES

It's a mystery.  I don't know why but we have decent looking nectarines this year.  Not a lot, but more than usual.  Flavortop and Fantasia are both yellow fleshed with great taste.  Heavenly White is a white fleshed nectarine with great flavor.  Hope you have an opportunity to get some before they are gone. 

We are harvesting mid season peaches at the beginning of July.  There is already color appearing on late season peaches.  I get the feeling that the peach season will likely end early.  Please make note.

During the 50's, 60's and 70's, our farm, along with many farms in Placer County, was busy growing plums as a summer crop.  Plums were harvested, sorted and packed into crates on our farm.  At the end of the day, the crates were delivered to a fruit shed in Loomis.  The fruit shed sold our plums to Colorado, Boston, Chicago, and New York markets. Today, the farm stand is filing up with many different varieties  of plums, some I don't have room to display.

Tomato season is just starting.  Cherry tomatoes are coming off the vines and we are getting a few slicers every day. There is a good supply of basil, cucumbers and squash.  Okra and eggplant are starting  to come in. The last harvest of potatoes will happen this week.

 

 

 

      Hours

Tuesday through Saturday           10:00 to 6:00

Sunday                                         11:00 to 5:00  

Closed on Monday

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

VEGETABLES:

Zucchini:  Green and yellow summer squash fresh out of the garden.  Tender green squash with white flesh. Great for sauteing, boiling, steaming, baking, roasting and adding to soup, stew and stir fry.

Asian Cucumbers:  Burpless, seedless and thin skinned cucumbers.  Refreshing, crisp, and tender.  Eaten as a summer snack, or added into salad or pickled.  Great flavor.

Slicing Cucumbers: Fresh, green cucumbers to add to your summer salads. 

Sakura Cherry Tomatoes:  Large, sweet, red cherry tomatoes
 

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes:  Bright yellow orange cherry tomatoes known for their bright fruity flavor. A summertime favorite on our farm. 

Basil:  Fragrant and flavorful.  Can be used in salads, sauces and pesto. 

Potatoes:  Youkon Gold potatoes.  Moist and flavorful potatoes with slightly yellow flesh.  These potatoes have thin smooth skin.  Great for roasting, boiling and frying.

Chard:  These greens are tender and tasty. Great for sauteing or adding to soup, casseroles, omelets, and stews.

Eggplant:  Both Asian and Italian eggplants will soon be available.

 

Okra:  Small quantities of okra will soon be available. 

FRUIT:

PEACHES

Gene Elberta:  Yellow freestone peach. Sweet and very  juicy.  Great for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Loring:  Yellow freestone peach. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

 49er:  Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Summerset:    Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

Fay Elberta:   Yellow freestone peach with smooth texture. Sweet and juicy. Known for its "melt in your mouth texture". Used for fresh eating, baking, and canning.

White Peaches:  

        Opale:  Firm white, freestone peaches.  They are low acid, sweet and tasty. Enjoyed when firm and crisp or soft and juicy.

        Silver Logan:  Soft fleshed, white, freestone peaches. They are juicy, sweet, low acid and high in flavor.

        Bowen Cling Peach:  This is not a freestone peach.  It is a cling peach.  The flesh  clings to the pit. Bowen peaches are firm and sweet. Juicy but not as juicy as a freestone peach. They are delicious eaten out of hand. These are sturdy peaches often used  in processing: canning, and baking.  Since the canneries closed down last year, many orchards of cling peaches were taken out.   

PLUMS

Santa Rosa: Very popular and very tasty.  Known for their sweet tart taste and amazing flavor and fragrance.  Great for fresh eating as well as for jams.

Black Amber:  Dark skin over amber red meaty flesh.  Sweet tart flavor and fragrant. Key ingredient for Black Amber Plum pie.

Mariposa :  Red fleshed with mottled purple skin.  Sweet and juicy, and flavorful. Great for fresh eating, baking and preserving. Semi freestone.

Eldorado:  Small dark-skinned plum. Sweet even when firm. Freestone. Used for fresh eating, baking and canning.  

Laroda:  Large flavorful dark-skinned plum. Sweet and juicy with a background of tang.  Great for fresh eating, preserving, and dehydrating.  

Kelsey:  Yellow-fleshed, green-skinned plum.   It has well balanced sweet/tart flavor.  It is juicy. Can be eaten fresh or used for canning or dehydrating.

Friar:  Dark-skinned, yellow fleshed sweet plum with great fragrance and flavor. Small semi-freestone pit.

Elephant Heart:  Large, red-fleshed plum.  Heart shaped with mottled skin.  Sweet and juicy with good flavor.  Used for fresh eating, baking and jams.

PLUOTS

Dapple Dandy:  Sweet, firm pluot with good flavor.  Dappled purple and pink skin with pinkish flesh.

 

Flavor Grenade:  Egg-shaped pluot with green-yellow skin with a reddish blush.  Most enjoyed firm ripe with a crisp texture.  Outstanding sweet flavor.

 

Flavor Jewel:  Firm light yellow pluot with red highlighted skin and shiny yellow flesh.  Eaten crisp with very sweet taste.   

 

BLACKBERRIES:  These thorny vines produce a sweet and tart mixed basket of wild berries.  Intense berry flavor with earthy sweetness. 

 

NECTARNES

Flavortop:  Red and yellow skinned nectarine with intense sweet-tart yellow flesh.  Delicious.

 

Fantasia:  Yellow skinned nectarine with red blush.  Yellow, sweet tart flesh.  Great flavor. 

 

Heavenly White:  White and red skin over white juicy flesh. Sweet-tart aromatic flavor.   

Hoshigaki :  These are whole dried persimmons.  They are hand massaged while they dry 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.  We are currently selling hoshigaki at the farm stand. For on farm orders of more than 1 pound it is best to email or call us to make a pre order.  

Hoshigaki strips:  Thin slices of hoshigaki for snacking.

Persimmon Pulp: Frozen pulp is available for baking or adding to oatmeal, smoothies, desserts or cereal. Some of our customers look forward to eating it like a popsicle!

 

Valencia:  These are juicing oranges but most people just peel and eat like any other orange. They are sweet and very juicy.

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.   

Here is what we have from other producers: 

Sunnyslope Farm in Granite Bay, is again bringing us conventionally grown, beautiful peaches.

     Suncrest :  Yellow freestone peaches.  These are sweet, juicy and very flavorful peaches.  The book Epitaph for a Peach, by David Mas Masumoto was written about harvesting Suncrest peaches. (Limited supply.)

Eggs:  La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis. Fresh🥚 eggs from pastured 🐔🐔chickens. (Limited supply.)

Onions:  La Bella Vito Farm in Loomis.  Red, Yellow, and White onions grown with organic practices. 

 Rio Red Grapefruit:  Stoney Point Farm in Loomis,(Organic certified). These large grapefruit are juicy, sweet and red fleshed. Low in bitterness.

Red cherry tomatoes:  Kijani Farm in Granite Bay.  Grown by organic practices. 

 

Buttermilk Nectarine Upside down cake