Chetwyn's October News

Published: Tue, 10/05/21

Fall Fruit and Friends

Hi ,

October is here. The sun is lower in the sky, the nights are cooling off, and it's time to bring out the pumpkins! But even though the seasons are changing, our temperate Bay Area climate keeps the growing season going. Enjoy reading about what has been going on at the farm this month.

Good Bye Hass, Hello Gem and Reed

This week we picked the last of our Hass avocados. That means that this upcoming Saturday will be our last market with Hass avocados for the season. As the Hass season comes to an end, we will start harvesting our Gem and Reed avocados.

The Gem is a dark-skinned avocado that is related to the Hass. GEM are the initials of Grey E. Martin, the UC researcher who selected this variety. It has the same oil content as a Hass avocado and the same rich flavor.

The Reed (named after James Reed) is a green skinned fruit with a distinct round shape and a smooth buttery flavor.

We are excited to share these next varieties with you all!

Our Figs

Yes, the time has finally come. Our fig season has started and we are bringing figs to the market each week. We have only a few trees, so the crop is small but oh-so delicious. Our three main varieties are: the Chetwyn fig, the Brown Turkey, and the Tiger Stripe.

We hope to put in at least 10 more trees this winter. The key to picking the prefect fig is to wait until they are at the peak of their sweetness. After that, they can be eaten fresh or stored in the refrigerator until the perfect time to use them comes along.

Lemons, Limes, and Our Kumquats

Our citrus crops are doing well, and we are bringing both Meyer and Pink-Variegated lemons to the market this month.

We also are growing some trees for our own enjoyment. Our lime tree is getting ready to be harvested, our mandarins are sweet and juicy, and our kumquat tree is full of fruit. We enjoy picking and eating the mandarins and using our limes in recipes.

Our favorite thing to do with the kumquats is to make marmalade. From the picking fruit from the tree to producing a batch of seven pints of marmalade, we timed the whole process and found it takes about one hour. It's a pretty good system! We were making a batch of marmalade a week but realized that we can start making two batches because of our abundant crop this year! The shelves of our pantry continue to fill up with jars of our summer bounty.

Hugo's Highlight

As you may know, we have a small herd of goats and sheep to help keep the brush and grass under control. They can wander all over the hill and pasture and munch away to their hearts' content. There is a problem, though. Predators from the regional park bordering us are out looking for their next vulnerable meal. But, we found a solution to protect our herd: Llama! Our guardian llama is named Hugo, and he has the role of sticking with the herd as they go out in the pasture. Llamas are very observant, and Hugo can be on alert and spot a danger. We have even seen our llama chase off coyotes!

Avocado Toast with Lemon and Cayenne

With both lemons and avocados in season, we thought it would be perfect to share this toast recipe. We used Meyer lemons, but any type of lemon will work. In the light snack, the lemon and mint add a refreshing tone which is balanced by the kick of the cayenne and creaminess of the avocado.

Ingredients:
2 slices bread, whole grained is best
½ Chetwyn organic avocado
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon Meyer lemon juice

¼ teaspoon Meyer lemon zest
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 pinch fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon chia seeds

Directions:
1) Toast bread.
2) Mash avocado. Add mint, lemon juice, zest, cayenne, and salt to avocado.
3) Spread avocado mixture on toast and top with chia seeds.

Enjoy!

Happy October to you all!

Warmly,

Dave and Anna

Chetwyn Farm