There’s no better reminder that summer is here than to see juicy California stone fruit such as peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots appear at the farmers’ market.
Stone fruit gets its name from the large seed or “stone” inside. Stone fruits are available from May to October. Following is a roundup of choices.
• Peaches and nectarines. Freestone peaches and nectarines have flesh that slips easily away from the pit, clingstone fruits do not. Most peach varieties are freestone and are available April through October. Some nectarines are freestone and some are clingstone. Freestone nectarines are available in June and July. Most plum varieties are clingstone.
• Plums. There are two types of plums – European and Japanese. Most plums produced in California are Japanese plums, with a distinctive round shape and dark color, and European plums, which are more elongated in shape and have a mottled appearance with purple and green skin tones.
• Pluots and apriums. First introduced in 1989, pluots and apriums are unique crosses of plums and apricots. Pluots are smooth skinned, like plums, while apriums are slightly fuzzy, like apricots, but they have unique flavors and higher sugar levels than the standard varieties. The new fruits are complex hybrids of plums and apricots that are created by making several generations of crosses and selecting desirable traits such as high sugar content.
• Apricots. The apricot, a native of China, has been cultivated for more than 4,000 years. The first recorded commercial production of apricots in the United States was in 1792, south of San Francisco. A relative of the peach, the apricot is smaller and has a smooth, oval pit that falls out easily when the fruit is halved.
You’ll find fabulous stone fruit in varieties that can’t be found at your local grocery store from farmers like Allard Farms in Westley, Apricot King Orchards out of Hollister and Castellanos Farm from Kingsburg.
Here’s a recipe to try:
Peach Salsa
• 2 pounds peaches, pitted and diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 1 sweet pepper, diced
• 2-3 sprigs cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 lime, quartered
• Salt
Wash all produce. Remove pits and dice peaches. Dice sweet pepper. Using serrated knife, dice tomatoes. Put ingredients into bowl. Add juice of 1/4 lime, salt, 1-2 tablespoons red onion and 1-2 teaspoons cilantro, and stir, tasting as you go. Adjust flavor by adding more lime and salt, and add more onion or cilantro if desired. Like it spicy? Use jalapeno instead of sweet pepper in whatever quantity you enjoy.
Debra Morris works for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association, which operates the Downtown Los Altos Farmers’ Market. The seasonal market is scheduled 4-8 p.m. Thursdays on State Street through Oct. 26. For more information, visit pcfma.org/losaltos.
