Fruits and veggies

beans and melons co-exist in the beds
in the Orchard at the farm

The official line, as well as what your mother told you is 

"Eat your fruits and vegetables." Research shows why it is good advice:

• Healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases.
• Fruits and vegetables also provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health.
• Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.
• psst: and they are delicious, right?

Ever wonder how many fruits and vegetables you should eat? 

There's an official fruit and vegetable serving calculator to tell you. 

Although of course, if you are as lucky as we are, 

having the farm or access to great Farmers Markets, 

we eat as many fruits and vegetables as we can, just because they taste so good.

So, while we've been caught up in our vegetables,

it seemed like a good time to put some focus on the fruits we have at the farm. 

some of the trees in
Orchard in early spring

Our orchard, which is about 1.5 acres has 49 fruit trees including 

5 varieties of peaches, 7 varieties of nectarines, 4 varieties of plums, 

4 varieties of pluots, 3 varieties of apricots, 2 kinds of apples, 

3 kinds of pears, two fig and two persimmon trees and a jujube tree. 

It can be quite beautiful, very fragrant and 

pretty delicious in the Orchard when it is in bloom.

Pluot almost ready to be picked

Last season's apple blossoms
are so beautiful 

And this year, things are getting started. As you see at the Farmers Markets, 

the apricots seem to be the first to burst out, and ours are very happy. 

In fact, we were surprised and delighted this year to find 

that the one apricot tree in the Insectary over by 

the vegetable beds is very ripe and abundant. 

Last year we got maybe 10 apricots total off that tree. 

The other day, we picked 50 lbs of fruit already, 

so that bodes well for our apricot bounty. 

Apricot tree in the Insectary

Adds color and attracts those good bugs


Of course one of all the bugs that are attracted to our Insectary 
are important for our biodynamic farm to flourish. 
This week, June 17-23 we especially celebrate 
these "good guys"--it's National Pollinator Week. 

one of our prolific apricot trees in the Orchard

And our chefs couldn't resist putting the apricots on the menu right away.

This week's plat du jour features ENTRÉE of spinach salad with

grilled apricots, bacon lardons, candied pecans, maple vinaigrette

and here are those same apricots at your table!

Arctic Star Nectarines looking good

The rare Indian Blood Peach is not yet ripe
but when it is, the flesh is a rich red 

Blenheim apricots are prolific

Naturally, not all the fruit trees ripen at the same time.
The apricots are the stars now and the plums and pluots are just getting started.
Since Pluots are cross between apricots and plums,
we may see them before the plums, but after the apricots!
Apples, pears and the fig tree will be our late summer and fall gems

We won't be eating these Pink Lady Apples
for awhile

and the Pear trees are
taking their right time

first one of our
Celestial figs!

We stumbled upon this informative but fun calendar "freshness" disc 

that helps you determine what's in season when. 

Obviously this varies depending on where you are, but it's a good overview. 

None of us are probably eating fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes in December! 

There we are, back to tomatoes (visions of these beauties on our plate 

are never far from our mind these days...almost there), 

but we can mention them in a post about fruits, 

because you know, tomatoes are actually a fruit, not a vegetable! 

"The confusion about 'fruit' and 'vegetable' arises because 

of the differences in usage between scientists and cooks. 

Scientifically speaking, a tomato is definitely a fruit. 

True fruits are developed from the ovary in the base of the flower, 

and contain the seeds of the plant." 

So, tomatoes like blueberries and raspberries are considered a fruit. 

As far as cooks are concerned, it seems tomatoes fall into the vegetable category

 because they are used in savory cooking more often than sweet. 

So, I suppose you could say that the very popular tomato watermelon salad 

at the girl & the fig is a "fruit salad!" 

And speaking of raspberries, they are the other fruit
we have growing in the lower farm beds,
so our fruits are not all concentrated in the Orchard area

did you know the "white" raspberries are not as tart
as the more common red ones

but we will be enjoying both soon
the raspberries love this spot in the lower quad of the farm

And, then we do have some veggies going in the Orchard beds

we will grow beans, cucumbers and melons
in the Orchard beds

We mix it up at the farm, just like we all are supposed to do with our diets
Makes for great balance, and that's what it's all about, right?

Let's do the hokey pokey and celebrate our fruits and veggies!

What fruits are you finding at the Farmers Markets these days?

Have any favorite recipes to share?

The Kindest Cut of All

The recent warmer afternoons and all the sunshine we've enjoyed 

has allowed us to get out to the farm and really get our hands in the ground. 

As we've observed before, even though Winter is a dormant time at the farm, 

with minimal opportunity to grow a lot, we see it 

as the "beginning of our Spring garden." 

And there is much work to do now.

This is the time for pruning trees in the Orchard. 

There are many reasons to prune trees: 

"Even healthy trees and shrubs develop areas of rot, pest infestation, 

or even inexplicable areas of dead wood. 

Removing these diseased or dead limbs prevents 

the spread of disease in the plant and results in cleaner wound closure. 

Pruning can also improve air circulation and increase exposure 

to sunlight which results in a stronger tree or shrub." 

the Pakistan Mulberry tree "breathing" in the sunlight.
Did you know the juicy berries from this tree can grow up to 5 inches in size?

But most important for our fruit trees, we prune for symmetry 

and to increase and improve fruit production.

 "Without pruning, most of the tree's energy goes into growth, 

resulting in a much smaller fruit yield." 

So, with dreams of treats like apple fennel galette in our mind, 

we are hard at work on the 50 trees in our Orchard 

to ensure the Chefs at the girl & the fig will have fruit to create 
dessert magic for you this Spring and Summer. 

apple fennel galette photo by Steven Krause for
Plats du Jour: the girl & the fig's Journey Through the Seasons in Wine Country.

One important thing to remember when pruning trees, 

is knowing where the tree produces fruit. 

You can see that we leave this "apple spur" (which is where the apple forms) uncut, otherwise we wouldn't get any apples next year. 

And that would mean, no galette!

apple spur from one of our 8 apple trees

we are hopeful to get apple blossoms like last year

A helpful video from a great source, GrowOrganic

to show you how to prune your fruit trees: 

working towards our trees in healthy bloom

so we will have luscious fruit to pick for you!
This is from a rare Indian Blood Peach tree

Are you pruning trees now? Let us know your tips or challenges.

What else are you doing in the garden this time of year to get ready for Spring?

And the seasons they go round and round...

We talk frequently about transition and ongoing changes at the farm—not to be repetitive 

but because these changes are in fact, the constant at the farm. 

Every day there is growth, some things wither and die while new things blossom. 

A simple but significant metaphor for our lives, the work at the farm 

keeps us focused on the flow of nature.

raspberry bushes going dormant after bountiful summer

a few golden raspberries still wanting to party

Did you know that 90% of all raspberries sold in the United States 

come from Washington, Oregon and California. We are lucky to grow our own at the farm. And more raspberry trivia: Raspberries can be either 

red, purple, gold or black in color. 

The golden ones are sweeter than the other varieties. Lucky us! 

Once raspberries are picked, they won't ripen any further, so even as we 

are past harvesting these gems for this season, 

we'll let the last few hardy ones do their thing!

Persimmons in the Orchard not quite ready, but soon!

At the same time that some of our bounty is past harvest time, 
we begin to look ahead to what will soon be ready to pick 
as well as what we will plant next at the farm.

But the chard and purslane planted in the Orchard bed are ready now!

Following the rhythm of the farm, we pay attention to these cycles.

While these transitions occur on their own, there are other changes that require 
our assistance. Knowing the summer squash 
was past its prime and needing to replenish the beds for winter planting, 

we recently set to work on the lower quad.  

Actually whether you plant a winter garden or not, 

fall should not really be viewed as the end of summer gardening season, 

but rather the beginning of a new garden for next spring. 

So much of what we do—harvesting what's grown and our dedicated attention 

to the soil now—goes a long way to improving next year's harvest, 

even reducing the amount of work next spring to prep the farm. 

While any seasonal change encourages you to stop and take stock,

 it seems like this time of year particularly inspires some reflection. 

As days get shorter and we hurry to harvest summer's bounty, preparing for winter, 

we appreciate what the farm has given us and make a commitment to give back. 

A wonderful book celebrating "the cyclical rhythms of nature" that came out in 2009 

(but is still relevant) is The Seasons on Henry's Farm. 

Worth the read to understand how "sustainable agriculture which mimics nature, 

and the life of an extended family that not only believes in 

the importance of stewarding the land but lives it every day. 

The author invites us to recognize our place in the cosmos, 

and to understand that growing good food does not mean 

destroying soil and water, and that we can eat well and live well, 

and still leave this earth a better place than we found it."

We try to do our part. 

The farm project is an important aspect of our business and our philosophy.

As is sharing the fruits of our labors with you, at our tables and in this blog.  

Let us know how you celebrate the change of seasons.

And follow us here to experience the next cycle for us at the girl & the fig farm project.