From Apache to Goshen Gold at Frog Hollow Farm
May at Frog Hollow Farm is more than just the start of a busy season—it’s the beginning of something golden. Apricot season is officially underway, and with it comes a fruit that’s small, sun-kissed, and rich with history, flavor, and promise.
We’re starting strong with the Apache apricot, the earliest variety to ripen, and we’ll close out with the Goshen Gold, a late-season gem that’s the newest addition to our orchard and already producing a beautiful, bountiful harvest.
What connects these two delicious bookends? A man named Craig Ledbetter.
Craig is a Research Geneticist for the USDA Agriculture Research Service who dedicated his career to breeding better apricots—not for size or shelf life, but for taste. That’s our kind of breeder. Five of the more than ten varieties we grow here at Frog Hollow were developed by Craig and his team, including both Apache and Goshen Gold.
The Apache, bred to ripen early without sacrificing flavor, is tangy, sweet, and rich—with a bold, sun-drenched intensity that makes it the perfect answer to months of waiting for the first real taste of summer. It also resists cracking, which is no small thing in the heat of a California spring. Farmer Al first reached out to Craig years ago during Apache season, and the two bonded over their shared obsession with fruit quality. Since then, the relationship has only deepened—and so has our apricot lineup.
Between the Apache and the Goshen Gold, you’ll find an entire spectrum of apricot flavors: floral, honeyed, bright, and velvety. Each variety has its moment, and together they stretch the season into something truly special. We grow over ten varieties in all—each one chosen for flavor first.
On the other end of the season, the Goshen Gold ripens late and leaves a lasting impression. With its succulent texture and remarkable sweetness, it’s how the season takes a bow. Craig bred this variety not only for flavor but also to extend the harvest window—a feat that allows us to grow delicious apricots deeper into the summer season, typically into early July.
Getting to that perfect apricot takes time. Craig’s team spends up to 15 years developing a single new variety, evaluating thousands of seedlings along the way. For every fruit that makes it to your box, nearly a thousand don’t. But that effort pays off—with more weeks of phenomenal apricots to enjoy.
And it’s not just our team pushing apricots forward. The fruit has been on a long and global journey—first cultivated in China and India as far back as 3000 BCE, then carried west to California in the 18th century, where it quickly became a regional treasure. Today, thanks to breeders like Craig and growers like Farmer Al, apricots continue to evolve, with flavor leading the way.
So this season, we raise a ripe, juicy apricot to Craig Ledbetter—and to every variety that makes up this glorious arc of flavor. And in Craig’s own words: “Eat more apricots!”