Updates from the field
We thought it'd be fun to get some updates from our summer fruit farmers. We checked in with a few of them to see what's going on at the farm ahead of their season. They've shared notes and perspectives and we've included their responses below. Read on for a preview of stone fruit, melons, mangoes, oh my~
Masumoto Family Farm 🍑
From farmer Nikiko on stone fruit:
- we've entered the heightened attentiveness part of the year (one translation: no more weekends off until August)
- thinning! We're thinning the trees in the orchards with great care
- every variety has its own set of historic notes describing styles of thinning, we use these but adjust them according to what we observe in the fields (for light set years, our instructions to our crew vary tremendously!)
- within a week after thinning the fruit starts to swell in size! growth is exponential!
Rose Diamonds are ~30% bigger after thinning
(Find Nikiko's Op-ed, "Farming With ‘Unrelenting Hope’ in the Age of Climate Change" here.)
June Crest peach trees with thinned fruit covering the ground
Sun Tracker Farm 🍈
From farmer Carine on melons:
This week we transplanted our first succession of melons, which were a week late in planting because of the rain last week. We had to hustle to get them in over the weekend before the Monday rain because the soil wasn’t dry enough to plant until Friday. But unfortunately Friday and Saturday were super windy, meaning we couldn’t do it because we can’t put up row cover when it’s windy. We do row cover on the first succession of melons because if not, they get decimated by cucumber beetles (which taper off later in summer) and to keep them warm so they can grow faster and we can have melons in June (which is super early for most folks). We try to get June melons because folks are so excited for them! The first succession is mostly San Juan Ananas, they ripen the fastest of all the melons, and seem to have great flavor and texture in the early summer. We also planted Sivan charentais, Crenshaw and Galia. This was the first time we used a transplanter to plant our melons! After some fiddling on the setting it went well and we hope it will save our backs this summer.
Albie on the new transplanter :)
Another goal for the next succession is to start burying the drip line in the soil so that we hopefully have less pill bug damage (and prettier melons/less loss). Many folks direct seed melons, but we do all transplants bc it means we have more guaranteed seed germination throughout the summer.
We usually do 7 successions total. With a new succession every 2 weeks. We plant 6-7 beds per succession (which is about 1200 plants per succession). We are also growing new varieties of charentais this year. A new Sharlyn to replace Trinidad (hopefully), Snow leopard, Piel de Sapo, and Melonade.
Baby melon plants tucked into the soil
Wong Farms 🥭
From farmer Barrett on mangoes:
At this time of year, the mango fruit has been set for about two months and is roughly half its final size. April through June is also our seasonal transition period, which brings changing winds. We often get strong gusts that knock a large amount of fruit off the trees.
Valencia Pride mangoes knocked off the tree by strong winds
Right now, we’re focused on weeding and clearing excess vegetation around the trees. In a week or two, we’ll start covering the most sun- and wind-exposed fruit with paper bags to protect them from further damage.
Golden Lady mangoes sizing up
Today's fruit
Emerald blueberries from Forbidden Fruit Orchards. Grown organically in Lompoc. Store in the fridge.
San Joaquin blueberries from Coastal Moon Farm. Grown organically in Freedom. Store in the fridge.
Hass avocados from Limelight Groves. Grown organically in De Luz. Store on the counter. Ripe when yields to gentle pressure.
Gold Nugget mandarins from Garcia Organic Farm. Grown organically in Fallbrook. Store on the counter.
Star Ruby grapefruit from Limelight Groves. Grown organically in De Luz. Store on the counter.
Early Sweet cherries from Murray Family Farms. Grown organically in Bakersfield. Store in the fridge.
Tarocco blood oranges from Beck Grove. Grown organically in Fallbrook. Store on the counter.
