Seckel Pears prove the old adage that good things come in small packages. This diminutive pear variety is the connoisseur’ s favorite. Sweet, flavorful, aromatic, spicy, and perhaps the very best of the pear family. All this sweetness and flavor is packed inside a russeted skin occasionally blushed with red. Seckel Pears are perfect for…
This beautifully russeted Pear is a Comice sport grown in New Zealand. The Taylor Gold ripens with high sugar and lots of traditional Pear flavor. The ripe texture is very similar to that of a regular Comice smooth and juicy.
YALI ASIAN PEARS combine the crunchy texture and juicy flesh of typical Asian pears with the graceful shape of European pears. The name Ya Li literally translates to “duck bill”, a reference to the silhouette of this pear. More aromatic and higher in sugars than most Asian pears, Yalis are gaining popularity each year. In…
The results of crossing an Apricot with a Plum are apparently infinite. The latest hybrid to make an appearance is the Black Velvet Apricot (actually an Aprium). Its skin is the color of a Black Plum but it has the light colored fuzz of an Apricot. The texture and color are Plum-esque but the Apricot…
These small, plumlike fruits take their name from Damascus, which is probably where they originated. They have deep blue-black skins with an attractive bloom. The flavor is very strong and tart, which makes them more suitable for cooking than eating out of hand. Damson Plums grow wild, but we have a grower who grows them…
Dapple Apple Pluots are one of the most popular plums summer has to offer. Sweet, rich, light-red flesh (nearly white near the pit) is covered with the distinctive light red mottled skin. Their unusual exterior makes them an eye-catching addition to fruit baskets and their red and white flesh presents well in tarts or galettes….
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A home orchard favorite, the Elephant Heart plum is as big on taste as its name suggests. Heart shaped, its yellow-green exterior hides watermelon red flesh that is firm, juicy and bursting with sweetness. It can be enjoyed fresh as a perfect snack and is a beautiful, rosy addition to compotes and tarts. Cooking adds…
Over 100 years ago, Luther Burbank began to experiment with the interspecific breeding of stonefruit. Today we have the Plumcot, Aprium and the Pluot, and the fruit world has never been the same. The newest delicious development is the Flavor Grenade Pluot. Aptly named, the sweet fruit flavor of the Flavor Grenade explodes onto the…
These Pluots have the Midas touch. Gold inside and out, Flavor Queen Pluots are another beautiful example of what happens when a grower crosses an Apricot with a Plum. Flavorful and sweet, Flavor Queen’s unusual color provides welcome contrast to the more common red and black Plums (and Pluots). Great for eating out of hand,…
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Fruit juice blends are hot, so why not serve the ‘ real’ thing? This plum apricot hybrid is characteristically more plum than apricot, and is more luscious than either of its parents. Dark purple skin and red flesh richly flavored and bursting with juice is what makes the Flavorosa one of the most popular members…
Plum and apricot hybrids are popping up all over the place. Some look like plums (Flavorosa pluots), some look like Apricots (Apriums), and these have the shape of a Plum, the color of an apricot, and a matte-finish skin (thanks to the barest hint of fuzz). These Golden Plumcots combine beautiful color and very sweet…
Wild Greengage Plums were probably introduced to Britain by the Romans, but disappeared from cultivation until Sir Thomas Gage brought them from France in the eighteenth century (and gave them his name). In France, they are known as Reine-Claude after the wife of Francois I, who adored their sweet flavor. These small members of the…
Plum varieties seem to be coming out of the woodwork, but all of them can be divided into two main categories: Japanese and European. ITALIAN PRUNE PLUMS are considered a European variety. Italians are the main European variety and are smaller, firmer, sweeter, and less juicy than the Japanese varieties (i.e. Friar, simka and Sant…
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We have finally figured out why so many growers are crossing plums and apricots like crazy. They are trying to capture the flavor of Wild Northwest Plums. Each one of these little gems have a distinct, exotic flavor. A little tropical, very sweet, and very small. They look like small cherry tomatoes of three different…
Also known as the ” Pumpkin Patch Pumpkin,” this variety of winter Squash is bright orange and substantially smaller than the carving pumpkins that stare at us with candlelit smiles on Halloween night. The flesh of the Pie Pan Pumpkin is sweet and nutty, and never as bland as the flesh of the larger Pumpkin…
Elegant additions to any holiday décor, Baby Pam pumpkins with stem are also very highly rated for use in pumpkin pies. They are considered a “small pie” pumpkin variety, and are usually 5 to 8 inches in diameter and weigh around 2 pounds. To serve a main course soup or ragout in individual pumpkin ramekins,…
The deep purplish-crimson-colored BANANA BLOSSOM is used as a vegetable from Sri Lanka to Laos. The flower is borne at the end of the stem. Long, slender, sterile male flowers with a faint sweet fragrance are lined up in tidy rows and protected by large reddish bracts. Higher up the stem are groups of female…