May at Frog Hollow marks the start of stone fruit season. Though every season has its own timeline, and we follow Mother Nature and the fruit, we anticipate having about six weeks of golden and succulent apricots ahead!
We grow over 13 varieties of apricots and apriums, each ripening in a sequence to stretch what was previously a more fleeting season into a two-month-long procession of incredible flavor. That’s no accident. It’s the result of years of planting new varieties and partnerships with plant breeders like our friend Craig Ledbetter, a Research Geneticist for the USDA, whose research and friendship with Farmer Al have shaped much of what you’ll experience when trying our apricots.
Coveted for centuries, the apricot originated in northeastern China and Central Asia roughly 3,000 years ago, traveling west through Armenia, Persia, and the Mediterranean. The Ancient Greeks called them the golden eggs of the sun, and Spanish missionaries carried them to California in the late 1700s, planting the seeds of what would become one of our state’s agricultural traditions. In Egyptian Arabic, the phrase bukra fil mishmish, “tomorrow, when the apricots come,” became a way of describing something fleeting and precious. We know the feeling, with apricots being one of our most beloved crops that seem to come and go very quickly, even with the season extension we’ve built over the years.
Craig’s work was instrumental in helping us extend our harvest of these precious fruits. When Farmer Al first visited Craig’s research orchard and tasted the Apache, an early-ripening variety and the first off the tree at Frog Hollow, a long collaboration was born. The Kettleman followed, with classic apricot sweet-tart flavor, which you’ve already enjoyed this season. Still ahead are the Honeyrich and the Goshen Gold, the latter the most recent addition to our orchard, partially bred from wild ancient apricot varieties native to Central Asia. The Goshen Gold is one of Craig’s final gifts to the farm before his well-earned retirement, and the variety that closes our apricot season. And what a gift it is. It has become one of our favorite Frog Hollow-grown varieties with a beautiful blush and juicy, honey-sweet flesh.
We’re grateful to breeders like Craig for developing these luscious fruits so perfectly suited for our incredible climate and for the golden weeks ahead. The best is yet to come!
