fruit notes

Fresh This Week

As the Masumoto crew is out harvesting the last round of their Sun Crest peaches, they notice the Baby Crawford trees. They’re slumping under the weight of the ripe peaches, ready to be harvested a bit earlier than expected. Nikiko calls and asks if we could find a home for them. We are thrilled! We’ve anticipated this moment since they grafted the Baby Crawford trees a couple years ago. The Masumotos learned of the Baby Crawford variety through Andy Mariani of Andy’s Orchard in Morgan Hill. Andy is a legend in his own right. He’s a third-generation stone fruit grower in the Santa Clara Valley, and the keeper of many old, overlooked, and downright delicious varieties that otherwise might have faded away. Andy re-introduced the Baby Crawford in the 1980’s and it’s now considered one of his signature peaches. After tasting the Baby Crawford at Andy’s, Mas Masumoto was so smitten he grafted them onto a block of old Le Grand nectarine trees, giving them new life. This is their first substantial crop of Baby Crawford peaches, so the Masumotos are still getting to know these trees (as we’re getting to know the fruit!) What’s clear already is the flavor wears the crown for these golden-skinned babies. Baby Crawfords have a melting texture with a rich taste behind their thin, fuzzy skin. The Masumoto crew says they taste like a combination of peach, mango, and apricot! Store these on the counter and don’t wait too long. Grown organically by Masumoto Family Farm in Del Rey. 

Toby grows only a few peach varieties at Free Spirit Farm, but the Elegant Lady is one of his favorites. This yellow peach variety is special because its flesh stays firmer than some of the meltier peaches out there. It has a wonderful balance of sugars and acids, giving it that classic peach flavor with incredible juices. Toby harvested Elegant Lady peaches for us this week from his one row of 14 year old trees, as he’s pulling them out to make room for kiwi plants! Don’t worry, though; it’s such a great-tasting peach that he’s planting more in another part of the orchard. We’re excited about the kiwi plants because we love supporting small kiwi growers in California; there aren’t many of them. In four years or so, we hope to share some of Toby’s kiwis with you. Maybe we can think about the Elegant Lady peaches while we enjoy those kiwis in the future. Store on the counter. Grown organically by Free Spirit Farm in Winters.

Le Grand yellow nectarines are the last variety from Masumoto Family Farm. It’s a late variety that is unlike any other, selected because it has the nectarine flavor that Mas Masumoto remembers from his youth. We think it’s a special fruit, but it has some unusual characteristics that have diminished its popularity with growers. It's out of style because it’s a clingstone variety (the flesh doesn’t easily release from the pit), it lacks the dark red blushing throughout the skin that shoppers have come to equate with sweetness, and it has some russeting on the skin (like you see near the stem of some pears and apples). But the flavor and texture is just incomparable. Peaches get the limelight, but we’re really savoring this last nectarine from the Masumoto family! Nikiko shared that the Le Grand nectarines are so exceptionally juicy this year that when she had one in the orchard this week, and the juice flew two feet! Store these on the counter and don’t wait too long. Grown organically by Masumoto Family Farm in Del Rey. 

We’re glad the Capay Valley has gotten some relief from the heat recently. That means melons have slowed down a bit at Sun Tracker Farm in Guinda. Carine says, “With the cooler weather they are ripening more slowly, so they are extra sweet… even if they can sometimes be bumpy and ugly on the outside.” The slower growth and longer time in the fields also attract more opportunistic melon-loving insects who, like us, have discovered how delicious the melons are. It also means the extended ripening period allows the sugars to develop more slowly and consistently, resulting in a delicious melon. These Sivan Charentais melons are so sweet and extremely aromatic right now. Wash your melon just before eating, chill your melon before enjoying, and when you scoop away the seeds, do so carefully without removing too much of the guts–it’s the sweetest part! Store in the fridge. Grown organically by Sun Tracker Farm in Guinda. 

Strawberries are bountiful right now, but Chandler strawberries are hard to come by. Chandler strawberries are June-bearing plants, which means they produce the bulk of their crop in the late spring. Since then, the plants have slowed down a bunch and are coasting, producing only limited amounts. By the height of summer, when most strawberries that are thriving are varieties that can withstand heat and are firmer in texture, we welcome the sweet, aromatic flavor and soft texture of the slow-producing Chandler strawberries. This week we’ve sourced from both Jim of Swanton Berry Farm and Poli of Yerena Farms. Chandlers are one of our faves, so we’re feelin’ lucky to have some this week. Store in the fridge. Grown organically by Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport and Yerena Farms in Watsonville. 

Close your eyes, bite into a Candy Dream grape, taste the luscious concord grape jam just contained within its delicate skin, and feel yourself floating on a cloud. (Anything can happen when you’re dreaming, right?) These grapes are reminiscent of the Thomcord variety, offering flavors of rich berries and concord grapes. They are so sweet that they almost make you question if grapes ever have any acidity. Murray Family Farm grows over 700 different kinds of fruit but we love eating our way through their many grape varieties, each offering something unique. Store in the fridge. Grown organically by Murray Family Farms in Bakersfield. 

Encore Appearances

There’s so many delicious stone fruit varieties out there, but a Spice Zee nectaplum is truly unparalleled. Spice Zees are amazingly complex: rich, sugary nectarine flavors loaded up with nice plum acid – and its aroma is intoxicating. If you’re lucky, you’ll find one whose slight scarring makes the skin look like a celestial lightning storm. Spice Zee’s are the first NectaPlum – that’s ½ nectarine, ¼ peach, and ¼ asian plum – developed by breeders at Floyd Zaiger, the same folks who brought the pluot into the world. When farmer Tree Kilpatrick of Cloverleaf Farm called to say they had a Spice Zee harvest this year, we were so excited! Last year, most of their stone fruit crop was devastated by the early spring rains and peach leaf curl. This year, they’ve had challenges with powdery mildew which has limited many of their earlier varieties. But Tree said they were able to get in and thin the Spice Zees right in time to yield some decent sized fruit. Lucky us! These are delicate and easy to leave fingerprint bruises, so handle with care. Store them on the counter. Grown organically by Cloverleaf Farm in Dixon.