Fruit Share: It's Been Worth the Wait

Good news! We have finally found a good source, no a great source, for some fruit. Lauren and I have been talking to a lot of different fruit growers and have been unable to find someone that has enough variety of fruit to supply a CSA but not so large that all they do is spray and sell commercially. And we found him. His name is Dan.

His first words to us were, "Welcome to my little piece of heaven." And it is. We drove all the way to the mountain top. Up a winding road, past a beautiful place to hike (Musconetang River Reservation Point Mountain Section) http://nynjctbotany.org/njhigh/musconet.html we arrived at 112 Mountain Top Road and turned in past the row of flowers, past the old bed of strawberries, past the row of rhubarb, past the wispy ferns of newly planted asparagus and into the rows of fruit -- he's got it all. Raspberries, blueberries, apricots, nectarines, peaches, white peaches, pears, apple, quince, currants, cherries and plums. As he walked with us up the hill (most orchards are grown on sloping ground -- better for drainage and better for frost) he pointed out all the trees. And he knows them all by name. And by the year that they were planted. "This one was planted in 1983. This tree produced 23 bushels in 2004. I grafted this row of trees. I wasn't able to prune these trees last winter. This tree I pruned to nothing and look how it's come back. Here's where I'm going to put in strawberries for next year. Look at this row, the deer ate it down to nothing. This is one of the original trees my father planted."

He used to do some "pick your own" as do most orchards because the labor to pick berries uses up all the profit margin in selling them (you just can't compete with Mexico, Chile and China!) or a commercial grower that uses a $100,000 blueberry harvester (yes, there are such things). But he doesn't plan to offer pick your own (even that can be a hard sell, who wants to work that hard?) this year...just to his regulars and the CSA (he likes the idea of the CSA). He would be willing to try a lot more varieties of apples, pears and other fruit but the demand just hasn't been there. And there's nothing worse than having bushels of fruit go to waste. For a short time he did well with nectarines...until California caught the wave and they were flown in by droves. He likes the growing. He doesn't like the selling much. He tried to find someone to partner with and offered a Mexican family the opportunity to help and sell the produce at farmer's markets in New York City. Unfortunately, they didn't understand the concept of share and kept all the profits. Now, he hires two guys and does most of the work himself. Including picking all those tiny fruits. He is a national treasure. One of the just 2 percent that produces all the food in this country. He would probably prefer to give it all away for free, just to have someone appreciate his efforts, if it wasn't for the fact that he has to pay for property taxes, fuel and a few necessities (though it doesn't look like he wants or needs much).

And so, we are offering a fruit share to the bold among us. It won't be like the vegetables where there's always a certain amount every week. For his fruit, it'll be $225 for the season. Some weeks will be just a little and some weeks a lot -- just depends on what fruit is ripe that week (and he will not pick it early. He carefully tastes each fruit to make sure it's truly "tree-ripened" before he will pick it. No gassing the fruit for him!) So, you may get some fruit that is bursting to be eaten. And you will definitely get some fruit that has some "imperfections." And if you're lucky, you'll get an apple with a worm inside. When was the last time that happened? He does spray (as do all organic growers) but not much. And the best way to help encourage less spraying is to walk up to a farmer, pick up the shittiest looking piece of produce and pay double for it. And thank him (or her) for it. They will grow twice as much of that next year -- guaranteed. (We farmers are very easy to please).

And so, we are now offering a fruit share from Mountain Top Orchard in Glen Gardner, NJ for $225 for the season beginning sometime toward the end of June. (Note: Due to the fragility of the fruit, the fruit share must be picked up in Hawthorne).

And we will also be offering a cheese share for $5 per week from Calkins Creamery www.calkinscreamery.com/. This is raw-milk, artisan cheese from a really great couple Jay and Emily who just had their third child last summer. They have 16 different varieties of cheese that they will be included during the season. They also have two dates for farm visits June 25th and August 20th. Another great way to get really good cheese and support real family farms.

And lastly, we will also be offering a coffee share from Red House Roasters in Union City, NJ. www.rhrcoffee.com/our_story.php What I like about this couple is that they have direct relationships with the farmers that grow the beans (the less middle men the more money the farmer makes). The coffee will be delivered biweekly for $10 per pound (ground or whole bean freshly roasted the day before).

Attached please find the form to get local fruit, cheese and roasted coffee.

Enjoy!

Lisa, Lauren & Jacob


It's all about the food!