1st Fruit Delivery week of June 18, 2012

1st Fruit Delivery of 2012

Welcome to FruitShare™and this weekʼs Antioxidant Box!
We are excited to be partnering with Angelic Organics Farm this summer and look forward to providing you with the tastiest fruits of the season.
Enjoy,
Everett Myers, Founder and President of FruitShare™

Storage and Ripening
All your fruit should be taken out of your box right away. The peaches, nectarines, avocados and pluots can all be placed on the counter and displayed in a fruit bowl as an edible decoration. When these fruits give to soft thumb pressure they are ready to enjoy. After they give to thumb pressure you can place them in the refrigerator to enjoy them over the next few days. The pluots will typically be ready after 1-2 days on the counter. The nectarines, avocados and peaches will typically take 3-5 days to be ready to enjoy. Keep the blueberries and pluots in the coldest part of the refrigerator and wash them just before you eat them.

What It Takes
The Flavorosa pluots and Arctic Star nectarines are from Ignacio “Nacho” Sanchez and his wife, Casamira. For them, farming started as a hobby in 1989 when they bought their first 6-acre orchard in Cutler, California. They farmed in their spare time. But over the next four years, Nacho’s orchard expanded rapidly, and he made his passion for farming into his full-time job. When their twin girls were born in 1991, Nacho and Casamira named their orchard Twin Girls Farms; and when their third daughter arrived, Nacho named some varieties of peaches after her. Having converted to organic farming practices in 1999, Nacho uses beneficial insects and cover crops in place of conventional chemicals. He gets great satisfaction from the knowledge that no harmful chemicals can affect his family, his workers, or his customers. Pluots are a tasty combination of a plum and an apricot, and they have a unique, sweet-tart flavor that’s a hit with kids and adults alike. The white nectarines are sweeter than yellow varieties, because they contain less acid. You can also eat white nectarines when they are still a little firm, rather than waiting until they are very soft.

Mike Naylor grew the David Sun variety of yellow peaches in your box this week. Mike has been farming organically since 1990. He converted the farm to organic practices after inheriting the orchard from his father because he was concerned about the negative effects of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers on workers and in the water.

The blueberries this week are from Delta Blue Blueberries. The orchard is surrounded by a large wetland that is home to many species of animals, and is allowed to flourish under its natural cycles. The farmers at Delta Blue use these cycles to encourage naturally
beneficial organisms to help keep the land healthy and the blueberries delicious. The abundance of bees, earthworms and other creatures found in the orchard is evidence of the natural way these blueberries are grown. You’ll see a difference when you try these
flavorful, tasty berries.

Dick Kauffman finds organic farming much more satisfying than conventional methods. After years of experience in the Peace Corps
and farm management in the Napa area, Dick began his own orchard and switched over to organic growing methods in 1999. Now, he has 82 acres of delicious stonefruit, including the Ivory Princess white peaches in your box. White varieties have low acid and are sweeter with a delicate, creamy flavor. They are juicy and perfect for a snack on a hot day.

Health and Wellness
This week’s box is full of superfoods. Blueberries are known as one of the top superfoods you can find, since they are packed full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Peaches and nectarines are also superfoods, containing tons of nutrients that will keep your body healthy. But what are antioxidants? Antioxidants are molecules that fight against free radicals – which can cause damage to the cells in
your body. Antioxidants are thought to help prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease. These molecules can be found in abundance in blueberries, peaches and nectarines. So, while you’re enjoying the delicious flavor of this week’s fruit, you can also enjoy the fact that you’re doing good for your cells.

Recipe // Peach Crisp
4 ripe peaches, halved
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 cup granola
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
1 pint vanilla ice cream (optional)
Heat oven to 400° F. Place the peach halves, cut-side up, in a baking dish. Sprinkle each half with 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2
tablespoons of granola, and 2 pieces of butter. Bake until the peaches are soft and the granola begins to brown, about 15 minutes.
Transfer to individual plates, spooning the juices in the dish over each peach half. Serve with the ice cream (if desired).

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