More summer delights appearing
Walking around the farm every day we are checking to see which is the next delicious fruit or veggie that we need to start harvesting.
Some days nothing is ready and other days multiple are ready to begin harvesting.
This week we have a few new fruits that we will begin harvesting in apricots and figs. Only the first few are ready so it will be limited amounts for a week or two until the majority ripen.
Golden Amber is the variety of apricots that we have and it is very sweet with a firm flesh that is easy to eat. These trees were planted a long time ago and were struggling to produce many fruit but a good pruning in the winter seemed to help them have a lot more fruit on the trees.
They are very similar to a Blenheim but with a benefit that they don’t get pit burn which is where the woody pit cooks the flesh around itself and turns it bad. That can cause the apricot to go bad before you realize it.
Warm weather in March caused the fig tree to start forming fruit concerningly early but luckily we avoided a frost that would kill them. Now the tree is starting to have the first few ripe figs being ready.
The first flush of figs are called breba and have a less strong flavor than the late summer ones that have ripened during the hottest days,
Last week we just started harvesting the first few cherry tomatoes and green beans. We have been eagerly watching to see when they would be ready to pick and they are starting now.
The green bean plants are looking really good and have a lot of beans on them that we will harvest this week and next. They are so tender so they can be eaten raw or just lightly cooked.
For the cherry tomatoes the sungolds are just starting to come in along with a few sweet 100s. This year we are trying out a couple of determinant cherry tomatoes in this first planting to see how they do.
We always don’t have enough at the start of the season for a couple of weeks until the sungolds and sweet 100s are in peak production so Tumbling Tom’s Yellow and Cherry Falls hopefully ripen a lot in these low 90s degree days.
In addition to the summer deliciousness we all get to eat, we have begun harvesting lavender which is one of the most amazing smells of the summer.
There is something so delightful to take a deep breath in a bunch of French lavender and get the amazing scent of lavender.
Since a very young age we have been growing lavender and there are pictures of us at a few years old holding lavender transplants our dad and mom were getting ready to plant on their farm.
One bunch can fill a large area with the amazing fragrance helping bring some calmness along with the beauty of the flower buds.
The state of California has many food safety net programs and one of its most effective is Market Match which doubles the benefits for people that receive CalFresh EBT at farmers markets all over the state.
Currently the Market Match program is not funded in the Governor’s budget for 2026-27 meaning it will run out of money in spring of 2027 and shut down.
When someone uses their CalFresh benefits at a farmers market that is part of the program they receive up to $15 in Market Match funds that are only allowed to be spent at fruits and vegetables at the farmers market.
This helps them to feed themselves and their families with more fruit and veggies every week than they can without the program.
The dat shows how effective it is with almost 50 million serving of fruits and veggies being purchased in 2025 which directed $25 million to small and medium local California farms.
Combined with the health benefit of eating more fruit benefits and the monetary benefit farmers get from the purchases, it helps the money stay local as research has found money going to local farmers impact the local communities by a multiplier of three.
It can make an impact to email or call your legislators. Additionally if you would like to sign on to the Save Market Match Coalition’s letter here it is.
