Archive for 2016

Side Hill Satsumas Arriving Soon

October 18, 2016 | Susan

We are less than 2 weeks away from the arrival of the first crop of the coveted Side Hill Satsuma mandarins! Side Hill Citrus in Lincoln, CA, located in the Sacramento foothills, has the best Satsuma Mandarins in our opinion.

As Fourth generation farmer Rich Ferreira waits for the Satsumas to dry out from the recent rains, he continues to walk the orchards every day checking the fruit for color and flavor. You can be sure that the Side Hill Satsuma Mandarins will have a good balance of tart and sweet from the first picking. As the season progresses they will only get sweeter.

Satsumas peel effortlessly, making it the perfect on the go snack for both kids and adults. As the weather continues to get colder Satsumas are the ultimate cold buster. Eat four or five Satsumas a day to receive six to seven times as much synephrine, a natural decongestant, as other citrus. Plan to stock up in November and December because the season usually ends the beginning of January.

Satsuma tree cropped

Fuyu and Hachiya Persimmons

October 13, 2016 | Susan

Bright orange Fuyu and Hachiya persimmons have arrived along with the cooler weather and it finally feels like fall. There are several species of persimmons but the most common is the Japanese or Oriental persimmon, also called the D. Kaki species. In Japan they are the national fruit and called Kaki. There are at least six varieties of the Asian persimmon but the Fuyu and the Hachiya are the most commonly grown in the United States. The season starts up in October and can continue into January, weather dependent.

California produces almost 100% of the persimmon crop in the United States with over half of the persimmons grown in Tulare and Fresno counties. The other main areas are Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties and a very small amount are grown in Sutter and Placer counties north of Sacramento.

The two varieties eat very different. The Hachiya is tapered like an acorn and has a bright reddish orange skin. It is extremely astringent and bitter when firm. If eaten when still firm it will leave a fuzzy unpleasant feeling in your mouth. The Hachiya needs to be jelly soft before it becomes edible. When the fruit has become very soft scoop out the flesh and use it in cakes, cookies, muffins and smoothies. Our favorite recipe is the James Beard persimmon bread.

Hachiya persimmons are elongated and tapered like an acorn

Fuyu’s are short, squat and non-astrigent and when ripe they have a sweet flavor with a hint of cinnamon and apricot. You can eat them raw when they are firm or soft and they do not need to be peeled. Fuyu’s can be eaten like an apple, cut up and eaten on their own. You may sometimes find a few seeds inside but they are easy to eat around. We like combining pomegranate arils with Fuyu slices in a colorful Fall fruit salad.

Fuyu persimmons are short and squat

How to store:
Persimmons unlike many fruits will keep longer if left at room temperature. Once they are in the refrigerator they will go soft faster and will need to be eaten quickly. Look for persimmons with smooth skin and no bruising. Persimmons are an excellent source of Vitamin A, C and fiber and full of antioxidants.

Cool fact:
The light colored, fine-grained wood from a persimmon tree is used to make billiard cues, drum sticks, golf clubs and furniture.

October is Fair Trade Month

October 5, 2016 | Susan

Coliman Organic Fair Trade bananas are on special all month long. Buying Fair Trade products ensures that farm workers enjoy sustainable wages, safe working conditions and improves their community by collectively investing in social and business projects such as providing health care, scholarships and leadership training.

Johnston Family Organics

| Susan

“We want to live in an environment that is not clouded with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers,” says Ian Johnston. The Johnston Family is passionate about growing organically and giving people a choice in how their food is produced.

Ian and Sylvia Johnston live and work on their home ranch in Woodland, California, about a half hour south of Sacramento in Yolo County. Running the farm is a family business and their son John helps to run the day to day operations. Most of their 220 acre farm is devoted to growing organic Butternut, Spaghetti, Delicata and Acorn Squash. When asked why they grow in Woodland Ian answers “The nice long hot summer days and delta breeze in the evening making for cool evening and night time temperatures, allows the plants to stay in the optimal temperature range for optimal growth.”

Butternut Squash

For Ian, Sylvia, John, and their full time employees farming is not a job, it is a way of life. They do whatever they need to do to get the job done. “Unfortunately plants grow on their own schedule. They don’t care if it is Sunday or a holiday. When they need something done you have to get it done then so the plants thrive. We all spend a lot of time together producing the products for the market. We take it very serious that our name gives customers the sense of truth that our product has been grown to the utmost standards,” says Ian.

The Johnston’s are always looking for ways to farm sustainably. Their tractors are equipped with GPS guidance to maximize driver performance, reduce fuel usage and minimize their carbon foot print; they irrigate with buried drip tape to be the most efficient with their water, use beneficial insect predators to keep insect pressure down and generate all energy used for their house and shop from solar panels.

The Johnston’s enjoy conquering challenges and every day farming is different and every year gives different growing conditions. “The satisfaction of facing a challenge and overcoming it is what fuels us to make ourselves better growers every day.”

Organic produce from the Johnston Family “Is truly from our family to yours,” says Ian.

October Is Fair Trade Month

October 3, 2016 | Susan

Join us as we celebrate Fair Trade month with Coliman Fair Trade Organic Bananas on special for the whole month of October!

Buying Fair Trade products ensures that farm workers enjoy sustainable wages, safe working conditions and improves their community by collectively investing in social and business projects such as providing health care, scholarships and leadership training.

Coliman’s Fair Trade Commitment: “Quality and service is our core belief and value while caring for our people and land. Our Fair Trade certification shows our customers that we care about fairness, justice and integrity for our workers, sustainable development, and that being a socially responsible company is an important part of our business and philosophy. Our goal is to provide only the best fresh bananas in the marketplace while ensuring that the teams of workers in the field can earn a decent and dignified livelihood, but more importantly, live a just and dignified life for them and their family.”

Fair Trade month comes just once a year but Coliman bananas are Organic Fair Trade all year long.

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