fruit notes

Twin brothers, Eric and Andrew Walker, started Farmboy Organics in 2022, growing mixed veg on five acres in Winters. But they have been farm boys basically forever, well before they could walk or talk. Their parents, Frances Andrews and Nigel Walker, began farming in Winters before moving onto a nearby property in Dixon and founding Eatwell Farm. (Nigel and Eatwell provided the first spark for my interest in farming 13 years ago – when Eric and Andrew were just teens :) I watched them grow up on the farm. They struck out on their own and a couple of years ago, they leased another two acres: an established, diverse fruit orchard. They’ve become the stewards of all sorts of fruit trees, and now we’re speaking my language! It’s pretty neat – after watching them become farmers, now I get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Here’s one of many delicious fruits they’re harvesting right now: Rio Red grapefruit. They’re smaller than your average grapefruit but mighty in flavor! Store on the counter. Grown organically by Farmboy Organics in Winters.

Juan and Coco Garcia started Garcia Organic Farm on nine acres of sunny slopes in Fallbrook, in northern San Diego County, in 1989. They’ve since grown to 27 acres: citrus, avocados, guavas, cherimoyas, figs, persimmons, and more! They’ve committed to farming organically since Day 1 and they’re incredibly proud of that. Lety is the badass lady farmer who’s now running the show alongside her father-in-law Juan. Juan retired from nursery work three years ago, allowing him to come back on as a full-time farmer. The Mexican Beaumont guava season starts in the fall and will go another month or two. The fruit is picked green and needs a few days on the counter to ripen, but they make it pretty clear when they are ready to eat. By the time the skin has ripened to yellow you’ll be smelling that alluring tropical aroma from the next room! The flesh will be thick and creamy, bursting with flavor, your mind transported. The seeds are edible but formidable, so take care. Slice and eat fresh, skin and all, alongside some citrus. Enjoy the trip! Store on the counter for 2-4 days until the skin turns yellow. Grown organically by Garcia Organic Farm in Fallbrook. 

This is the first week of Tahoe Gold mandarins and I am SO excited. We’re at the mid-season mark for mandarins and this is one of our favorites. These are one of the T.D.E. mandarins: a hybrid cross of three fruits: the Temple tangor and the Dancy and Encore mandarins. High sugars are balanced with high acid – high wire – the flavor of Tahoe Golds is unmatched. Its slight pebbly skin and deep vermillion hue make them a stunner, too! Our friends at Terra Firma know we love them so much that we got a message as soon as they started harvesting. The season always feels too short so we try to eat as much as we can. Store in the fridge or on the counter. Grown organically by Terra Firma Farm in Winters.

Another really tasty mid-season mandarin variety is the Gold Nugget. It’s at the other end of the spectrum from the Tahoe Gold. They are sweet sweet! You’ll typically see them in markets a bit later in the season, but the are already so sweet, and no one’s complaining that they’re early to the party. You might notice they taste (and look) a little like a Pixie. They’re cousins! Cathy and Michael at Spreadwing Farm also grew the Minneola tangelos in this week’s big fruitqueen box. Minneolas are a grapefruit x mandarin cross, and I love how the pomelo-y flavors from the grapefruit parentage really shine through. Sometimes tangelos can be unapproachably sour for fresh eating, but these really nail that sweet-sour balance. They are also SO. JUICY. Love ‘em! Cathy and Michael only have a couple of trees, so we’re lucky to get a limited amount to share with the fan club. Store in the fridge or on the counter. Grown organically by Spreadwing Farm in Rumsey.

Each week the Meiwa kumquats from Garcia Organic Farm have gotten better and better. This time of year, Fallbrook has mild to warm daytime temperatures and cold (but not too cold!) nights. That means that Meiwa kumquats continue to ripen consistently throughout the season. The skin gets ever so slightly thinner and sweeter each week, while the flesh inside holds a perfect tartness, resulting in a perfect balance when eating the fruit in a single bite. If you’re new to kumquats, you can eat the whole thing! Forget what you’ve learned about other citrus, the skin here is actually the sweet part and the interior is tart. They may have a few seeds but they’re tender enough, cruise on through ‘em. Store on the counter. Grown organically by Garcia Organic Farm in Fallbrook. 

At Shared Abundance Organic Farm, farmer Ruthanne grows mostly Hayward kiwis, with just a few Bruno kiwi vines in the mix, too. She measures the sugars and waits to harvest until they are nearly double the standard of big, commercial growers. She pushes ripeness way beyond what’s conventional for kiwis and you can taste the difference. The Bruno kiwis have a fan club of their own. They are a bit longer – a friend called them egg-shaped – and some are almost hairless, and some are fuzzy. They might look silly but they are so sweet and tasty. Ruthanne tells me they fly off her table at markets, and I can see why. They are perfect to eat now or you can let them soften slightly. Store on the counter. Grown organically by Shared Abundance Organic Farm in Auburn.

Ice Cream Beans! Inside the (inedible) green pod is white flesh – like cotton candy that tastes like vanilla custard. The white fleshy “fruit” surrounds a big black bean that is edible when cooked but can otherwise be treated like a seed (read: don’t eat them raw!) Eschewing its catchy common name, farmer Jay Ruskey of Condor Ridge Ranch refers to it as “Inga”, shorthand for its Latin name, Inga edulis. Inga is commonly planted alongside coffee trees to provide shade and wind protection, and to help fix nitrogen in the soil. It’s extremely fast-growing and even though it’s a legume like beans and favas, it grows like a tree! Jay, along with other small coffee farmers, are growing Inga symbiotically with their coffee plants in Southern California. Inga can be found growing in the wild and in agroforestry systems throughout Central and South America, but it isn’t exported due to its short shelf-life, perishability, and unfamiliarity in the market. Store in the fridge and it’ll be good for 5-7 days – just in time to get more! Grown organically by Condor Ridge Ranch in Goleta.