There are some pretty tough jobs being a farmer.
Last Friday I was invited to a summer fruit tasting at Dave Wilson Nursery near
Modesto. This is the nursery we bought our fig trees from this year.
The grueling 3 hour tasting session started with an
apricot and 28 fruits later ended with a cherry plum. I was amongst 80 farmers,
master gardeners and reporters. Each fruit was sampled and graded by us on factors such as ripeness,
firmness, acidity, sugar and flavor. It certainly made me pay closer attention
to each fruit. I was there hoping to find some great peaches to fill in a row
that we will replace this winter. As it turned out I liked the nectarines much
better than the peaches offered. Unfortunately I had to get back to the farm
and was not able to enjoy the barbecue and tour of the nursery offered. I am
excited to incorporate the tasting idea into an event for the farm. I think it
would be very interesting to do this for the tomatoes… Nigel