Hector vs. Goliath June 19, 2006

The Aguilar family has been farming their land in Modesto for four generations. Serafin Aguilar (picture far right) and his two sons, Hector and Frank, share the duties of tending their crops. The Aguilars have a simple 3 – part philosophy about how to bring people the best fruit from their farm…

1) Let the fruit ripen on the tree as long as possible maximizing the sugar load; 2) pack the fruit carefully, by hand; and 3) deliver on the same day.

They believe this is the only way for small farmers to survive against big farming corporations who pick fruit early before it is ripe, so it transports easily.

As a kid, I always wondered why people used the expression “cherry” – as in “that’s a cherry ride.” I thought at first that maybe it had something to do with the color red. When I started the FruitGuys and expanded my knowledge of produce, I realized that cherries are a coveted and ephemeral fruit. They are only around for a short time, and they go fast if they are good. The cherry season of 2006 is not considered “cherry” because of all the late rains. After weeks of searching, we finally found a cherry from Aguilar Farms, which we believe as one of the best cherry farms in the world.

Apricots from the Farm

At this time of year, The FruitGuys truck turns down a dusty driveway off the 132, a two-lane road in Modesto, CA to sample some freshly picked apricots. The workers on the farm wear wide sun hats and white cotton gloves as they balance on wooden ladders, gently harvesting the orange-golden fruit from the trees. They carefully put the delicate apricots into wooden fruit lugs for later packing or they “field pack” them right off the trees into cardboard boxes. The harvest season for apricots is short – June and July at most, and on this farm the owner is in the field from 6 am until 7 pm every day, checking the crop and directing the transfer of the fruit lugs to the field packing house where workers inspect the fruit and sort it by size and appearance.

Gold Bar: The Gold Bar apricot with its red velvet hue is the most beautiful “cot” we get all year. It is full of sugar and leaves you with a comforted and fulfilled feeling. It has a velvety and rich finish that makes me wonder if apricot mousse can be grown on trees.

Enjoy and be fruitful! – Chris Mittelstaedt chiefbanana@fruitguys.com