If you love summer stone fruit—peaches, apricots, nectarines, and plums—then you’ll love preserving some of it as jams and butters to eat when summer is long gone. Early summer is a perfect time to …
Cold-Water Swimming: Are You Ready to Take the Plunge?
Shivering on the beach in the lashing wind and rain, I cringe as the 52°F water of San Francisco Bay kisses my toes. Why do I do this? I ask myself, and on winter days like this. Why don’t I wear a …
RIP to the Remarkable Karen Morss
Karen Morss, aka the Lemon Lady, an author, pilot, and pioneering Silicon Valley–entrepreneur-turned-farmer, died in December 2018. Karen was a passionate producer of the most fabulous Meyer lemons …
Winter Stews for Lunch
The short, cold days of winter often have us craving warm, nourishing meals—the kind we refer to as “comfort food” for good reason. I’m a big fan of large-batch winter cooking: making soups, stews, …
Summer Tick Protection
Everything you need to stay safe from ticks Summer is prime time for hiking, camping, horseback riding, and exploring the beautiful outdoors. But even if you’re only in your backyard or walking …
Dip Your Toes into Outdoor Swimming
Swimming is a great source of relief from the summer heat and excellent exercise to boot. No matter what your fitness level—or even your mobility level—the gravity-free effects of water can allow you …
How to Can Perfect Pears
SANTA ROSA, CA—Marie Seppa knows her way around a canner. A spry 92-year-old with bright blue eyes, Marie has been canning since she was a child growing up on a farm in Eastern Oregon in the 1920s. …
Less Time to Chill
Cherries are finicky trees. They don’t like it when it gets too hot, when there’s not enough rain, and when it doesn’t stay cold enough during the winter. For the last few winters, California’s …
Flu Prevention Tips
We’re all a little on edge about communicable diseases these days. Even if there is no reason for the vast majority of us to fear Ebola, we could all do with a little remedial education on preventing …
Open Water
As I hopped off the dock and into the San Francisco Bay, I knew that swimming in the 56-degree water could trigger a rush of adrenaline and a primitive, almost unbearable fight-or-flight response. But …
California’s Bitter Drought
Image courtesy of NOAA California Governor Jerry Brown declared on January 17, 2014, what farmers and ranchers have known for some time -- the state is in a drought, possibly the worst one in …
Appreciation: Marcella Hazan, 1924-2013
My very dog-eared copy of The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan has the following inscription: “Many happy hours in the kitchen, with love, Mom, Christmas 1986.” I was 21 years old when my …
2012 GoodWorks
The FruitGuys has formed a new non-profit organization to promote sustainable agriculture practices for small farms, an evolution of the company’s Farm Steward Program, which has provided farmers with …
Nonni’s Biscotti
Classic Italian Cookies for the New Year By Pia Hinckle Biscotti are twice-baked biscuits, cookies but not too sweet, that originated in Tuscany, in the town of Prato, to be exact. My Italian …
Nonni’s Minestrone
Adapted by Pia Hinckle for The FruitGuys INGREDIENTS 2 bunches of kale (or other hearty greens) 8 small potatoes (or 5 big), scrubbed and cut into 1-inch cubes (peel if desired) 4 carrots, …
The Big Soup: Minestrone
By Pia Hinckle In Italy, there are as many ways to make minestrone (literally “big soup”) as there are ways to make pasta. Each region has a variation, and each town has a local twist inspired by …
Tomatopalooza
A Canning Primer By Pia Hinckle Harvest time always brings an embarrassment of riches to your table. What to do with 25 pounds of zucchini? Tomatoes finally came in last week? Can’t eat another …
Ode to a Grav Grower
Lee Walker has been farming with his family in their Graton, CA, apple orchard his whole life, except for a tour in the army and a few years playing pro baseball. Lee has kept growing Gravenstein …
The Obesity Era
The Weight of the Nation is a Must See America today (circa 2012): one-third of our adult population is obese; another third is overweight. That’s 75 percent of our more than 311 million citizens. …
Donate-A-Crate 2011 Fed Thousands
During the 2011 holiday season, generous FruitGuys' customers provided thousands of people fresh fruit at 22 community-based organizations across the country. "The produce donation went over …
