fruit notes
Today is the spring equinox, officially marking the first day of spring! As we feature some delicious late-winter citrus, the introduction of a spring mandarin, and a sampling of peak subtropical fruit season, we’re (always) in awe of the bounty of California fruit!
At an elevation of 650 feet and just a few miles inland, Condor Ridge Ranch is a wonderland for sub-tropical fruit perched over the Pacific ocean. Every month of the year, something magnificent is flowering, fruiting, or being harvested. With warm southern exposure, early March means the farm is full of Hass avocados, cherimoya, ice cream beans, and passion fruit. When farmer Jay Ruskey started tending to Condor Ridge Ranch in 1989, it was mostly planted with cherimoya that wasn’t producing much fruit. After a lot of TLC (and hand pollination), Jay brought the dormant orchard back to life, resulting in beautiful, delicious cherimoya fruit. This week is a snapshot of fruit from our recent visit to Condor Ridge, on the cusp of winter and spring. Cherimoya season is late winter to early spring, Hass avocado season runs from spring to summer, and Frederick passion fruit has two bumper crops: one in the fall and one in the spring.
Booth cherimoya is one of my favorite varieties. When ripe, its sweet custardy flesh tastes like a tropical blend of banana, papaya, and pineapple. The Booth in particular has strong pineapple notes, lending a delicious tartness. Let the cherimoya ripen at room temperature until it’s soft to the touch. When ripe, we like to cut them in half and scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Don’t eat the black seeds.
Every Hass avocado tree at Condor Ridge is flush with fruit right now – we felt like we were walking around in avocado heaven. Many of the avo trees are planted on steep slopes, shading the coffee plants beneath their canopies. Seeing the two together is a quintessential scene at Condor Ridge! This is the beginning of Hass avocado season and though they are unbelievably creamy in texture now, they’ll just continue to become more impressive over the next few months with their weekly harvest. Early-season Hass may take a bit longer to ripen than you’d expect. Leave on the counter or in a paper bag until it yields to gentle pressure and go by feel, not by color.
Passion fruit vines are threaded throughout the farm, draped over anything that will have it, and particularly among the avocado trees, which they use as a trellis. The spring passion fruit season is here, and Frederick purple passion fruit is popping up all over the farm! Late-season citrus is becoming so sweet, which makes the tart, punchy flavor of passion fruit a welcome balance on our palates! We love that the crew at Condor Ridge goes “hunting” around the farm for the fully-colored passion fruit. Eat the passion fruit now or wait until it gets wrinkly on the counter for a sweeter, pulpier fruit. All grown on Condor Ridge Ranch in Goleta.
The Fremont mandarin is an “early-ripening” mandarin, but I actually prefer them in March when they’ve had some hang-time on the tree. Now, their rich clementine flavors have fully developed and their sugars have come into form. (For me, a Fremont mandarin should be considered a late-season variety because that’s when it’s at its prime!) These are juicy, sweet, and tart, and the skin is deeply orange and zipper-easy to peel. Store on the counter. Grown organically by Garcia Organic Farm in Fallbrook.
The Cloverleaf Farm’s Washington Navel oranges are some of the last remaining oranges to be harvested up here in Northern California. It’s risky for farmers to keep oranges this late into the season because rough weather can cause the fruit to drop and oranges are more susceptible to pests and disease when they're in their prime super-sweet-and-juicy window. But they’re super sweet and juicy! Cloverleaf just has a few trees, so with one last sweep of the orchard, this is the final harvest of these. Store on the counter. Grown organically by The Cloverleaf Farm in Winters.
Even for the citrus lovers, the monthslong parade of citrus can become a slog. So maybe, when the humble Pixie mandarin arrives in springtime, it may not get the glory it deserves. But the Pixie is a cult classic for a reason, and Churchill Orchards grows one of my favorite versions! Pixies aren’t such an obvious choice for commercial growers. It takes four years from planting to bear fruit, and eight years to reach full maturity. That’s nearly double the wait compared to other varieties, meaning a lot of unpaid rent. (Kind of like living with your 30 year old kid – which IS sometimes worth it!) To tax a grower’s patience still, Pixies are alternate-bearing, meaning one year the trees bear loads of fruit, and the next year they might yield a third or less. They are also quite finicky about climate. Pixies like hot summer days and warm winters. There are few microclimates in California that fit the bill but Ojai is one of them. This may sound like a long list of cons, but one taste makes it pretty clear. Pixies are sweet and deeply flavorful (and super cute!), making the wait for spring berries a little bit easier. Store on the counter. Grown organically by Churchill Orchard in Ojai.
The origin of kiwis dates back to the 12th century, growing wild upstream of the Yangtze River in Northern China. In China, it was originally known as yang tao. Seeds made their way to New Zealand by way of the UK, where it was dubbed the Chinese gooseberry. The enterprising NZ fruit merchandisers and their American importers responsible for commercializing kiwis tried out a few other names, such as “melonette”, before finally landing on “kiwi fruit.” (To my mind, whizzing past a gem like melonette seems like a mistake, though admittedly a kiwi has next to nothing in common with a melon, save its shape.) Horticulturist Hayward Wright developed this variety, the Hayward kiwi, in the 1920s. It’s since become the most commonly-grown variety around the world. Ruthanne of Shared Abundance farm grows one of my favorite versions of these! Keep on the counter. Grown organically by Shared Abundance Organic Farm in Auburn.
