Harvest Ticket January 10-11 2012 Page One




Greetings!


I didn't post last week's harvest ticket. It seems that computer issues are the bane of my existence, and every now and then I'm dead in the water with an issue that I can't figure out in a timely manner. I've had a virus for months that repeated trips to the tech guy in nearby Temecula hasn't solved. I've given up and actually BOUGHT A NEW COMPUTER, rather than continue to suffer.




Anyway, now that I've vented, on to farm issues. This week we're finally beginning our kumquat harvest. Yeah! As I've said before, we usually start harvesting in time for Thanksgiving's cranberry/kumquat recipes but not this year, by a mile. So the fruit is beautiful, and I think sweeter than past years'. Although popping a few in your mouth as a snack isn't a terrible notion, to truly experience what a kumquat can be, requires heating. Like quince, the rich, complex flavor of the kumquat isn't realized until it's been cooked. So give it a chance! See separate recipes below.




We're finishing up our persimmons, I don't think we'll have any next week. They're ripening on the tree now, and the ones you receive will need to be consumed promptly. They're best like this, but have poor shelf life. I'd love to hear if anyone tried drying them. Please share your experience if you did!




Our amazing sprouts are still taking two weeks to sprout, though moved to the greenhouse. So this week's boxes have none, next week's will. We're working on making a greenhouse inside the greenhouse in hopes of creating a micro climate that will allow us to produce sprouts on a weekly basis while we wait for Spring to arrive.




We probably have enough macadamias to begin cracking out next week; or at least I think so. And we'll begin our Hass avocado harvest next week, too. Don't get your guac recipes out, though; because in the very first part of the California avo season, it takes a minimum of 10 days off the tree before the fruit is ripened. Most Hass in the grocery stores (and ahem...in the farmers' markets for that matter) is from South of the border.








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