Fruit Newsletter for the week of June 26th – 30th, 2018
Dear Angelic Organics shareholders with a fruit share, see below for the fruit newsletter for your first fruit share of the season from Everett Myers of FruitShare.
Welcome, Angelic Organics farm members to this season’s first FruitShare delivery. This week’s box is truly an “antioxidant booster” because of all the superfoods inside! A superfood contains antioxidants, which help fight free radicals – cells that can cause diseases like cancer. As you may know, blueberries are known as the top superfood because they contain more antioxidants than 40 other fruits and veggies. You may not know that nectarines and green grapes also contain lots of antioxidants along with nutrients and vitamins your body needs to stay healthy. These antioxidants often come as part of the molecules that give fruits their colors – so you know with blue blueberries, yellow apricots and nectarines, green grapes and red plums, orange valencias, and green avocados providing a wide spectrum of colors, you’re getting lots of different types of antioxidants and nutrients. We wish a safe and Happy 4th of July!
Enjoy the fruit your brain will thank you.
Everett Myers, Founder and President of FruitShare
In Your Box: All Organic Fruit Blueberries, Green seedless grapes, Yellow nectarines, Valencia oranges, Hass avocados, Apricots, and Plums
Storage and Ripening
Your Valencia oranges will keep for at least 2 weeks in the coldest part of your refrigerator. I like to place the Nectarines and Hass avocado on the counter until they give to thumb pressure. Once the nectarines give to thumb pressure eat them right away or place them in your refrigerator to enjoy within a couple days. Eat your grapes and berries first and place any left-over in the refrigerator right away. They like to be cool and dry. Make sure to dry off any condensation they may have picked up during the delivery and place them in the refrigerator. Plums and Apricots are best when they give to thumb pressure too, but they are also good firm so see how you like them the best. The refrigerator will keep them longer.
What It Takes
Today we have a taste of some of some delicious apricots, plums and nectarines. We are coming into more of the main season varieties soon and sizing will start to increase. All the stonefruit is fantastic grilled.
Dick Kauffman finds organic farming much more satisfying than conventional methods. Dick and I share a history of having volunteered in the U.S. Peace Corps. After years of farm management in the Napa area, Dick began his own orchard and switched over to organic growing methods in 1999. Now, he has 82 acres of delicious organic stone fruit, including the Red Raven plums in your box.
John France began producing organic tree fruit in 1989, and quickly became well known for both the quality of the fruit and the quality of his operation. John is thankful that his three children are not exposed to the pesticides and fungicides used heavily in conventional stone fruit orchards. So what’s the secret to his exceptional organic fruit? Weeds. Or so it would seem – John says that what appear to be weeds are actually valuable cover crops. John strategically plants an assortment of grains and legumes between his trees. He explains that the legumes provide nitrogen when tilled under, and the grains create plant diversity, which John has found to be a crucial part of orchard health. The cover crops also house natural predators and make it easier for water to be absorbed into the soil. John has watched the health of his soil improve, and has seen insects and birds return to the orchard. Now raising 18 different types of fruit trees and vines, John has recently noticed increases in fruit production. So whether you say “tomayto” or “tomahto,” “weeds” or “cover crops,” you’re bound to enjoy these Duke blueberries, nectarines and Patterson apricots.
The Patterson apricots are one of the main season standards of apricots. This variety is shown so much respect it is named after the town of Patterson, CA; where they have an apricot festival every year.
The Valencia oranges come from Bill. He has been working with several of his organic orchard friends since the 1980s to grow delicious citrus and avocados. The Valencia oranges are super juicy and are perfect for squeezing a glass of fresh orange juice. Just cut them in half, cross-section, and squeeze the juice into a glass. It is the perfect way to start the day. They also make a great snack but can be difficult to peel, so your best bet is to slice Valencia’s into wedges. They do have some seeds so watch out.
Health and Wellness
Blueberries are known as the #1 superfood, and they are truly one of the healthiest foods you can find. They are low in calories, yet very high in nutrients your body needs to stay healthy – a term nutritionists call “nutrient dense.” Blueberries contain tons of antioxidants, which fight harmful by-products in your body called free radicals. Free radicals are thought to cause cancer and age-related diseases, and antioxidants help fight these conditions. Blueberries also help lower your cholesterol; in fact, the USDA found that blueberries can lower your cholesterol more effectively than prescription drugs, due to a special antioxidant called pterostilbene. Because of this, blueberries can be very helpful in preventing obesity and heart disease. Blueberries may also help improve your memory, concentration, and balance. The antioxidants in blueberries also support the health of your eyes and eyesight. Preliminary research shows that blueberries can help protect against age-related deterioration in the brain such as short-term memory loss. There is even some evidence that blueberries may be able to help reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders. No wonder blueberries are considered the master of superfoods! So eat up and enjoy – those tasty berries are doing much more than tickling your taste buds!
Recipe
This easy summer salad takes healthy clean-eating up to the next level. Garden fresh arugula combined with nutty red quinoa and our freshest organic blueberries make for a perfect summer dish.
Salad: 4 cups organic arugula (fresh cut from the garden is ideal!), 1 cup cooked organic quinoa, 1 organic yellow pepper—diced, 1 cup FruitShare fresh organic blueberries, 2-3 organic green onions, 1 handful of organic walnuts (optional)
Dressing: 1 shallot finely diced, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, 1/8 cup organic blueberries—muddled, salt/pepper, maple syrup to taste (the real stuff of course!)
Strain and rinse 1/2 cup red quinoa. Add to saucepan with 1 cup water, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until water has been absorbed. Allow to cool or place in the fridge if time allows. Meanwhile, wash and spin arugula greens and place in a bowl. Add diced yellow pepper, green onions, blueberries. Add quinoa and dress salad with blueberry vinaigrette dressing (below) or vinaigrette of your choice. Enjoy fresh.
Blueberry Vinaigrette Dressing: Mix oil and vinegar in an approximate 3 to 1 oil to vinegar ratio. Add shallot, muddled blueberries, salt, pepper and maple syrup to taste.
Become a fan of FruitShare on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FruitShareOrganics), follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/FruitShare), pin us on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/FruitShare), Instagram (www.instagram/fruitshare.com), we are blogging at (www.fruitshare.com/blogs/organic-fruit-blog) Good old-fashioned email works, too, at email hidden; JavaScript is required, or by phone at 651-644-2800
The post Welcome to the 1st Fruit Delivery of 2018 appeared first on Angelic Organics.