Long lapse in posting here... We're still enjoying the summer's Walla Walla Onions and Manzanillo Olives. Seeds are saved. Jars of dried pears and jalepeños are in the cupboard, and 8 cases of canned tomatoes are in storage. Foremost however, we are grateful for the 2.12" of rain that fell from the sky so far today, bringing us to 11.86" ytd! Water is still falling as I type, and more is forecast. Wonderful wet fall aside, the farm is cranking fruit. The walk-in is full of kiwis, which I pulled down by headlamp last night before today's rain. A beautiful crop of Wonderful Pomegranates went to Frog Hollow's Happy Child CSA a couple of weeks ago, and Persian Banana Pumpkins and Fuyu Persimmons graced the cooler at The Penny Ice Creamery for Halloween. On the other side of the hill, our produce is available at the California Fruit Crate in Saratoga and Bevy Produce in San Jose. Thanks to the rain, our three garlic varieties are 6" tall already, and the next rounds of Red Russian Kale and Vates Collard Greens are taking off. We are looking forward to a record citrus season. The trees are loaded, and our Owari Satsumas have already started to turn! For now, we enjoy the petrichor and all the critters who come out to enjoy the moisture (see slideshow above). Wishing everyone abundance and the happiest of Thanksgivings!
Saturday, November 19, 2016
In Gratitude
Long lapse in posting here... We're still enjoying the summer's Walla Walla Onions and Manzanillo Olives. Seeds are saved. Jars of dried pears and jalepeños are in the cupboard, and 8 cases of canned tomatoes are in storage. Foremost however, we are grateful for the 2.12" of rain that fell from the sky so far today, bringing us to 11.86" ytd! Water is still falling as I type, and more is forecast. Wonderful wet fall aside, the farm is cranking fruit. The walk-in is full of kiwis, which I pulled down by headlamp last night before today's rain. A beautiful crop of Wonderful Pomegranates went to Frog Hollow's Happy Child CSA a couple of weeks ago, and Persian Banana Pumpkins and Fuyu Persimmons graced the cooler at The Penny Ice Creamery for Halloween. On the other side of the hill, our produce is available at the California Fruit Crate in Saratoga and Bevy Produce in San Jose. Thanks to the rain, our three garlic varieties are 6" tall already, and the next rounds of Red Russian Kale and Vates Collard Greens are taking off. We are looking forward to a record citrus season. The trees are loaded, and our Owari Satsumas have already started to turn! For now, we enjoy the petrichor and all the critters who come out to enjoy the moisture (see slideshow above). Wishing everyone abundance and the happiest of Thanksgivings!
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Avo Max!
We just finished our largest avocado harvest to date. 88 cases of #48 Hass went out the door Monday thanks to Coke Farm. Our #60's went to Scotts Valley Market, the deli at New Leaf Felton and the brand new Bevy Produce in San Jose, who will be stocking our Italian Prune Plums and Genoa Italian Heirloom Lemons as well. Our #70's went to Viva's Cafe, now open at Merrill College, UCSC, and the good peeps at Steamer Lane Supply. We also donated two huge boxes of #2's, and the #80's to the Grey Bears Brown Bag Program. All told, we've had a wonderful summer. We're up to our ears in cukes, peppers and tomatoes. Pumpkins, persimmons, and pomegranates next... Abundance abounds!
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Sights of Spring...
The most wonderful thing about needing to do a second Spring post is that, despite a couple of weeks of high pressure, for the most part we've had an actual Spring this year! Rain continues to fall periodically--we're now up to 40.63" ytd--and temps remain in the low 70's. Our annuals are all planted out and have had plenty of time to get their roots established. None of the trees have been irrigated yet, besides for fertigation purposes. The last rounds of citrus are still trickling in, and many trees are already laden with a very heavy set of nubbin fruit. Our avocados are sizing up and are likewise copious from last year's dry spring. Mostly, our world is in bloom right now. We sure do enjoy the show!
Friday, February 26, 2016
Sounds of Spring
Nearly a month of high pressure has brought the tree frogs out of hibernation. Our nights are filled with their joyful chorus. Unfortunately, temps in the mid-seventies don't correlate with very much precipitation. Our rain gauge sits at 23.21" for the year. Hopefully el niño finds some legs come March... The warm weather has accelerated our citrus season, and our last variety of mandarins, Gold Nugget, went out this week. They were splendiforous this year! Earlier we had a bumper crop of Moro Blood Oranges, which went to The Penny and Manresa Bread. Some absolutely beautiful Cara Cara Navels went to the same locations as well as Ristorante Avanti. Jincheng oranges and Tango tangerines were all spoken for by Frog Hollow's Happy Child CSA. The folks from FOOD, What?! came up following the harvest, as they have for the past three years, to glean tangerines and mandarins for their recruiting trips South County schools. We wish them and their youth crew continued success. As such, it was a bit of a struggle to pull together enough fruit for the tasting at tomorrow's UCSC Citrus Class. Pucker up, folks! It's lime vs. lime... lemons and mandarins too! Here's to many mating frogs and a wet spring!
Monday, January 18, 2016
(In Memory of) Hope
2016 continues to deliver at a graceful and hope-filled pace. Rolling rainstorms give way to sun-speckled harvest windows. Our rain gauge sits at 16.74" (with more storms on track). We've delivered over 4000# of citrus so far this month, and there's plenty more in the pipeline. Many thanks to Robert Mann Packaging for running off another pallet of 1 1/9th bushel boxes for us in a hurry last week! Right now, 500# of Washington Navel Oranges sit picked and packed alongside 1250# of Meyer Lemons in our storage room. The final third of the Meyer Lemon Harvest will happen next week. "Tango" and "Gold Nugget" Mandarins, Jincheng Sweet Oranges, and Moro Blood Oranges are all on deck. Surrounded by so many blessings, it was with sadness that we marked the passing of our dear friend Hope last week. In her memory, we have planted the grandest of palms: Jubaea chilensis, the Chilean Wine Palm. We're already looking forward to enjoying coquito nuts... twenty years from now! ***Much gratitude to Sal at All Tropical Palms for procuring our vigorous specimen.
Monday, January 4, 2016
All That The Rain Promises, And More...
After a cold, dry week, our rain has returned. 1.18" have fallen so far today, bringing us to 10.08" year to date, and it's still pounding the windowpanes as I type! Fortunately, it paused just long enough today for me to harvest 400# of postcard-perfect Algerian "Clementine" Tangerines for Frog Hollow's Happy Child CSA this morning. They have already enjoyed Page Tangelos and Owari Satsuma Mandarins. Next week, we will begin our Meyer Lemon harvest for their marmalade. We had a cheerful and productive holiday season. Our final order of the year was filled for Ristorante Avanti on New Year's Eve and included Buddha Hand Citrons, Yuzus, Bergamot Sour Oranges, Meyer Lemons, Bearss Limes, Owari Satsuma Mandarins and Hayward Kiwis. We are grateful for El Niño's atmospheric flow. It sure is fun to see storms stacked up back to back out past Hawaii! Thanks for reading, and wishing you all the best in 2016!!
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