Reflecting on Sunlight

Hello Fruit Friends,

Heidi here. The boss is letting me use his typewriter while we give him the day off for his birthday. I am writing from my office in Sebastopol, CA. We're a little tilted here in Sebastopol. Well, to be fair we are all tilted - 23.5 degrees. That's the angle of the Earth towards the sun. This tilt gives us the seasons and in the Northern Hemisphere the longest day is on the Summer Solstice. And here in Sebastopol, as with many of the agri-suburban towns around Sonoma County, we whoop it up for the occasion. There's a drumming circle at the traffic roundabout and a potluck in the panhandle. But even if you didn't synchronize your sundial at 10:46 PM PST on June 20th your passport still gets stamped "officially summer."

Everyone relishes the longer days, from gardeners to house painters, and, of course, the kids chase every last golden ray into purple shadows before bath time. Even the chickens are dawdling up the ramp into their coop - I detected an "Aw mom, already?" sassy look in their beady eyes. Seems like everyone in Sebastopol keeps dogs or chickens, or both - and I don't think I'm the only one who thinks my chickens talk to me...

A solstice treat in all the Harvest Flyer boxes this week is the exquisite Angelcot. The FruitGuys is a flutter with the annual harvest of this special apricot. It is a very light yellow apricot with a little blush and a heavenly scent. A fruit that inspires many to wax poetic, including FruitGuy Jeff Koelemay who once wrote, "The Angelcot has a texture as soft as mouse feet on freshly fallen snow."

Ross Sandborn in Brentwood, CA bred the Angelcot from Iranian white apricot seeds and a California variety. It is now grown exclusively by Marty Maggiore and his family in Brentwood. Marty has a trick; in order to put a little blush on the Angelcots' cheeks, he lays white cloths under the trees to reflect sunlight towards them. This apricot has only one season and very special care is required in its handling and growing. When you unpack the FruitCase, it is best to employ a little restraint and let the Angelcot ripen on the counter for a day or two.

I'm taking my Solstice Moment to reflect on this Angelcot, the art and the history that went into growing it - from the gardens of Persian queens, to a Brentwood CA orchard, to my desktop. To see everything in your regional box, go to fruitguys.com and click on In The Mix. If the Angelcot inspires you, please write me.