What’s your favorite cherry?

Over the last few days, I’ve been asked this at least a dozen times. This question is only a segue to what they really want to tell me… that the Brooks cherry is their favorite. It’s said with the implication that this should be shocking to me because they assume that my favorite cherry is and should be the Bing. But, I am on to them and I always see a slight look of excitement (and sometimes disappointment) when I tell them that my favorite cherry is the Brooks.  We aren’t just saying this because we’re desperate for summer fruit; the Brooks have earned their place next to the highly revered Bing.

Developed in 1984 by  Paul Hansche and is the jewel in the crown of the UC Davis plant breeding program. The development of the Brooks had a major impact on cherry production in California. It‘s ready a week before the Bing and produces less double fruit when grown in the southern San Joaquin Valley. This allowed commercial cherry production to move to the warmer areas of the valley where earlier fruit could be produced. This has allowed California cherry growers to take advantage of excellent markets for fruit produced earlier than anywhere else in the United States.*

Usually the first fruit of the season is not the best that the fruit has to offer. The early peaches are usually small and the texture can be a little stringy and early apricots are a little tart and firm. But not the cherries; Brooks cherries are completely satisfying. True, they don’t always have the red flesh like Bing but they have a perfect acid-sugar balance and intense flavor. They are wide, fat, firm and meaty textured with a high flesh to pit ratio. They are beautiful to look at too; dark red, heart shaped with short stems they look like a perfect Valentine.

My kids are happy to eat cherries after a long winter and Spring of kiwi and citrus. Yes, and I find cherry pits in the most random places my car is littered with them, but I don’t care; my favorite cherry is here!

*http://ucanr.org/sites/wolfskill2/files/24282.pdf, UC Davis plant breeding program

 Hey everyone,

The apricots will keep rolling in and the boxes keep piling up, so prepare yourself for another summer of delicious and organic legendary fruit!

This marks the beginning of the 2013 summer harvest which means rest of our organic fruits and apricot varieties are soon to follow. Next week we will start to harvest the first of our cherries, starting with our Brooks variety, and will begin to ship nationwide by Wednesday, May 8th.

Both items are available online for pre-order. We will begin shipping the Apaches on Monday and Cherries later in the week.

http://froghollow.com/collections/fresh-fruit

This week’s article was written by CUESA's Volunteer of the Month Janet McGarry.

    City dwellers may have enjoyed the sunshine during one of the driest winters on record, but the unseasonable weather has many farmers worried, and with good reason: their livelihoods hang in the balance. Fluctuations in weather do not necessarily indicate changes in climate, but climate change does impact the weather. Fearing the current weather patterns could be the new normal, California farmers are paying close attention to the forecast.

    On February 21, California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) convened farmers, scientists, and policymakers at the University of California, Davis, to discuss research and strategies for coping with the uncertainties of climate change. A coalition of sustainable agriculture and environmental organizations, CalCAN advocates for legislation that protects farmland, and supports farmers in adopting sustainable practices that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequester carbon. Most recently, the organization has cosponsored the California Farmland Protection Act (AB 823), which would require the protection of one acre of farmland for every acre developed for urban or industrial use. Because an acre of paved land is associated with up to 70 times more GHG emissions than an acre of farmland, CalCAN believes that farmland preservation is an important strategy for addressing climate change.

An Uncertain Future

    Researchers predict climate change will influence California growing conditions in numerous ways. Rising temperatures are likely to result in less snow and more rain during the winter months, which means the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the state’s primary water storage source, could shrink. As a result, water resources for irrigation will be in shorter supply. Climate change could also lead to more extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, heat waves, and late frosts. Higher temperatures and increased levels of carbon dioxide could mean more pests and diseases for crops and livestock.

    Rising temperatures have already begun to impact California’s fruit and nuts, some of the state’s most lucrative crops. These crops require cooler temperatures, known as “chill hours,” in order for fruit to set properly. Warmer weather has decreased the number of chill hours, and climate models predict that this trend will continue. For example, a 2011 study by Stanford researchers predicts that warmer nights could reduce premium grape harvests in Napa by 50% by 2040.

Feeling the Heat

    Insufficient chill hours stunt fruit blossoms, so flower pistils do not grow long enough to allow for pollination. “We are getting lighter crops of cherries year after year,” he said. To accommodate the temperature changes, the farm is grafting existing trees with new varieties that require fewer chill hours. “We will adapt, but it will be expensive and take a lot of time. It’s very discouraging.”

    Farmer Al described extreme weather events that destroyed his Golden Sweet apricot crop. In 2010 and 2011, warm tropical storms hit California in late winter, creating the perfect conditions for brown rot, a fungal disease. “Before the storm arrived, the orchard was a magnificent, creamy white color of apricot blossoms,” he recalled. “It looked like a great year. After the storm, the blossoms were solid black. Not a single blossom survived. The crop was a complete failure. It was unbelievable.”

Climate-Friendly Farming

    Agriculture is not only impacted by climate change but is also one of its largest contributors. The global food system, including production and distribution, accounts for almost a third of GHG emissions.California is the largest producer of agricultural crops in the country and the twelfth largest producer of GHG in the world.

    On farms, conservation measures such as renewable energy production, use of energy-efficient equipment, and decreased reliance on fossil-fuel-based pesticides and fertilizers help to reduce GHG emissions. Farmers can cut nitrous oxide emissions by avoiding heavy irrigation after applying fertilizer or by using subsurface irrigation, such as drip lines, rather than surface irrigation. Water conservation measures are doubly beneficial: not only do they sustain farms in times of drought, but they also reduce the energy required to pump water.

   According to CalCAN , organic and sustainable farming practices can create healthy farm ecosystems that are resilient to stress while mitigating the impact on climate change. Use of cover crops, manure, and compost increases carbon storage in soils and minimizes the need for petroleum-based fertilizers. Trees, shrubs, and hedgerows on farms also sequester carbon and create habitat for biodiversity.

Capturing Carbon

    One way Farmer Al is addressing the climate crisis is by amending his soil with compost made from farm waste. When a soil biologist visited Frog Hollow Farm a couple years ago and saw that one third of the farm’s fruit was wasted because it was blemished and could not be sold, he suggested that Farmer Al start a compost pile. When left to rot, fruit releases methane (a strong GHG) into the atmosphere through anaerobic decomposition, but when converted into nutrient-rich compost that is added to the farm’s soil, it helps store carbon. Pruned orchard branches (which are often burned by farmers) and bedding from a neighboring horse ranch are also added to Frog Hollow’s pile, where their carbon can be put to good use.

    In addition to improving soil fertility, Farmer Al believes that the compost is reducing the farm’s carbon footprint. “We’re making amazing, biologically active compost,” he said. “It enlivens and increases the biodiversity of the soil. If you do that, you increase soil’s ability to store carbon, its water-carrying capacity, and its oxygen-carrying capacity. The crops are also healthier, so they can better withstand disease, wind, and drought.”

    Al would like to see more collaboration between researchers and farmers to identify climate-friendly agricultural practices that will help farmers adapt to an uncertain future. “Good science establishes the basis for what we’re doing,” he said. “There is good science at test plots at universities, but we really need long-term research on farms also.”

Support the California Farmland Protection Act (AB 823). Take action today.

Last Week (3/25/13):

        

                                      

The Pressure of Spring

    Last evening at sunset, I saw Matt in the beautiful new greenhouse he and the men built, watching over the little seedlings that he started from seed a month ago like a mother hen. We talked about what we’d have and when it would be ready. Will the Early Girls be ready by late June or mid July? Is there still time to start Fresno chilies from seed? I left there feeling the anticipation of many good things to come although with butterflies in my stomach. I know exactly what Roger’s and Hammerstein meant in the song, “It Might as Well be Spring”; “…I feel so gay, in a meloncholy way…”  It’s springtime. It’s beautiful and exciting, a time of renewal and new life. But it’s also a time of increasing pressure for all of us on the farm and probably you too.

    It’s a law of physics that a coil spring needs pressure in order to push up, and it is a law of nature that we all need pressure as well to propel ourselves into the next phase. The blossoms “push” open, as the high pressure systems of spring begin to sink down from above and warm the air around us. Sometimes, I imagine it actually pushing down on me. Suddenly it’s too late to get all the things done that I wanted to do in the winter months. A month ago, I felt as if I had all the time in the world and now I feel like it’s slipping through my fingers. That slow time, when everything and everyone moved as if in slow motion is gone and now time is accelerated. Summer is just around the corner, when it seemed so far away just a few weeks ago. The kids will be out of school soon, (what do I do with them?!) and the fruit will be here. There will be more people everywhere; at markets, at my house and on the farm. I was calling the shots there for a little while, but not for long. Now, my days will be about trying to keep up, stay ahead of the juggernaut of summer fruit that will be coming our way. It’s time to get out; out of the sleepy, dreamy days of winter and into the bright, light days of spring. I am excited by all that coming, the long, warm days and the deliciousness of summertime. We have a lot to look forward to.

-Chef Becky

Chef Becky gives her blessing to the olio nuovo, the first pressing of the 2012 olive crop, and says it may be our best oil ever!

Our inspiration for planting olives was a trip to Tuscany in November of 2001. We stayed at a B&B in Tuscany during olive harvest. On a warm, sunny day, with our host, Georgio and 4 members of his family representing 4 generations we picked olives by hand, into nets beneath the trees. While we picked they prepared a lunch of grilled sausages and lardon, salad, bread and red wine. We ate right there in the olive grove where we picked; nothing fancy, but delicious and totally unforgettable. After, we took the olives to the mill with Georgio and watched it being pressed. I’ll never forget the green color of that oil and its’ peppery taste. Our dream is to make oil that good and this year’s oil is a very good advance in that quest.

“Bright and fruity up front, followed by piquant grassy notes, and finishing with a little ‘bite”. Becky strongly influenced my decision to pick the olives earlier this year, wanting “greener” oil, a more traditional Tuscan flavor profile. It definitely worked!

            I was also influenced by more practical reasons: First, since greener olives yield less oil, with such a large crop, having enough oil to sell is not an issue.  Second, this year’s olive crop is huge, and I knew it would take a week longer to pick it. (By the way, the olive oil pressed from the olive picked first week will have a slightly different character than the oil pressed from the last week and we are going to see if we can taste the difference.) Third, this years’ California crop of olives is heavy meaning there will be more competition getting mill slots scheduled. And last, with such a large quantity of oil, it will take longer to sell, so storage is a factor; greener oil, with higher polyphenol content has a much longer shelf life than the “golden” oils (and more anti oxidants and more health benefits.)

            This years’ crop is unbelievable! Our trees, 400 in all, planted along roads and property lines in single rows,  look like weeping willows, with their branches, laden with olives, bent to the ground. One tree alone had 300 lbs of olives and it took my best picker an entire day to pick it! Our crew picks the olives using their hands, finger tips wrapped in duct tape, like a rake sliding the olives off the branch into the picking tote. We then rush them to the mill in Petaluma within hours which is critical in assuring the highest quality oil.

So how do you know if your oil is high quality? Here are a few tips on taste testing oil.

The 4 Ss:

Swirl -This releases the oil’s aroma molecules. Keep one hand on the bottom of the glass to heat the oil and the other hand covering the top to keep in the oil aroma.

Sniff – Uncover the oil and quickly inhale from the rim of the glass. Take note of the intensity and the description of the aroma.

Slurp – Take a small sip of the oil while also “sipping” some air. This slurping action emulsifies the oil and helps spread it throughout your mouth. Take note of the retro-nasal aroma as well as the intensity of bitterness.

Swallow – An oil’s pungency is judged by a sensation in your throat so you must swallow at least a small amount to thoroughly evaluate it. If the oil makes your throat scratchy or makes you want to cough, it is a pungent oil.

What positive attributes do you look for when sampling oil?

Fruitiness – This refers to the aroma of fresh, undamaged fruit in the oil.

Bitterness – This is the primary flavor of fresh olives and is perceived through the taste buds located on the back of the tongue

Pungency – This is a biting sensation felt in the throat that will often time make you cough.

What negative attributes do you look for?

Rancidity- Naturally occurs as oil age.

Musty/humid/earthy – Caused by mold spores that develop when olives have been stored in humid conditions prior to milling.

Heated or Burnt – Occurs when the olives are exposed to excessive temperatures during processing

Frozen – When oil is extracted from olives that have been damaged by frost prior to harvest.

Briney – Occurs when oil is extracted from olives which were preserved in brine.

Grubby – The result of extracting oil from olives damaged by olive fly infestation.