Fruit Loop

October 8, 2023October 12, 2023

Apple Season

There are seventy-five hundred varieties of apples in the world, a third of these get grown in the United States. If you are still picking up Red Delicious at the grocery you’re missing . . . a lot . . . of great apples.

Now most of these varieties come from crosses of heirloom trees and their differences lay mostly in minute fluctuations in sweetness. It is also worth noting, how very difficult it would be to find samples of all apple varieties in any one place.

Fruit trees are regionally specific, but the Pacific Northwest is a major player in apple production.

There aren’t many types of fruit that offer this level of variety. Nor, perhaps, share the apples level of popularity.

In recent years the types of apples you’d find at a local grocer has expanded. To some degree this is being pushed by a more global market.

However, family orchards, like you find on the hills above Hood River, have done their part in the propagation of old and introduction of new apple types, as well as other fruit varieties.

Hillsides filled with orchards and exposure to so many different types of fruit is the reason we drive to the Hood River a few times every Fall.

The Kiyokawa Family Orchard grows around a hundred varieties of apples, from Akane to Zestar, most of which won’t show-up in the produce aisle at your local grocer.

There’s also a couple dozen different types of pears . . . Anjou to Warren, and again lots of unique names. At any given point in the season there will be thirty different boxes and bins of tree ripened fruit to choose from.

Still room for some more fruit in that bag

What is ready for sale sits in a ring of wooden racks supporting boxes loaded with fruit and wearing placards noting sweetness level and some tasting notes. You buy a container (bag or box) sized to meet your needs and then fill that bag from any of the available boxes.

We chose the standard bag which held a couple dozen apples and half a dozen pears. This translated into six different apple varieties and two different kinds of pears. We also picked up a couple of small bins of plums, most of which were devoured on the trip back over the mountain to home.

Is it really fall before you fill a bag with fresh apples grown on the hills overlooking the Columbia River?

. . . I don’t think so.

October 16, 2022October 14, 2022

Apple Season

Apples destined for sorbet, chutney, turnovers, fritters, tarts, and pies

To most, this time of year is Fall … to us it is Apple Season.

For a few weeks, on the northern foothills of Mt. Hood, between the end of September and early November, you can find roadside stands offering tree-ripened fruit.

Kiyokawa Family Orchards is in Parkdale, which is twenty minutes from Hood River, or two hours from Bend, depending where you start your journey. For us, the reason to travel to the highest reaches of the Hood River fruit orchards … is Kiyokawa.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better variety of tree fruit in one spot. There is literally a maze of apples and pears. JQ does her research and builds a list. In years past these excursions ended with bags of un-identified fruit, so now, armed with a list, we are more focused.

Dolgo crabapples for jelly and McIntosh for apple butter

From left to right, Hanner’s Jumbo, one of the largest apples, Dolgo Crabapple, Pink Pearl

Apples and pears for picnic boxes are only part of the haul.

There will be a batch of apple butter and slices for gallettes and pies added to the freezer.

Crabapple jelly is on the list of new projects this fall.

July 24, 2022August 6, 2022

Pick a spot, any spot

Columbia Gorge, from an overlook near Mosier, Oregon

This week’s travels were more of a route than destination. Typically, we pick a location, then plan a route. Occasionally, we pick a direction and stop whenever and wherever we feel like it. This was one of those trips.

We begin our trek heading north. We have a vague idea of “cherries are in season now” and realize … “it’s been awhile since we saw the Columbia River Gorge.”

As mentioned in previous posts (see “Fossils, Rocks and Turkeys”), there are rules we apply to every road trip. In this case, “don’t repeat route wherever possible.”

With cherries in mind, we head to Hood River’s Fruit Loop. We wind our way past orchards, then stop at Pearl’s Place Fruit Stand, one of our favorites. The owners are nice, the fruit, in this case cherries and fresh peaches, are delicious.

We notice traffic is really picking up on the Loop. We shift to a new route away from the tourists and toward the little town of Mosier in the gorge.

A few years ago, we picked end-of-season apricots from trees on Annie’s Orchard, which is located here. After all, cherries are in season and we are in prime orchard country.

We are ahead of the hottest part of the day as we exit I-84 into Mosier.

A fruit stand, manned by community volunteers and stocked from nearby Roots Farm, has several varieties to choose from.

We pick up a few pounds of Rainers, setting aside a small bag for front-seat snacking. And we are back on our way.

Instead of the freeway, we go east on Second Street, out of town, which is a stretch of the old Columbia River Highway, US-30.

This section is still in service, featuring lots of driveways, wineries, orchards, and scenic overlooks. We follow the narrow, twisty road, watching out for groups of bikers, and enjoy stellar views of the gorge.

Then, we are back on the freeway. This time we turn south towards home, taking an alternate route through landscape that morphs from grain fields into ranch country. Visible from the car are rolling hills with an abundance of sage. After a full day on the road, it is good to be home.

September 5, 2021September 5, 2021

Annual Fruit Stand Trip

This week we headed up to Hood River and a trip through the Fruit Loop. It is a bit earlier than normal, but a great break from the smoky air that plagues Central Oregon.

The drive is an annual trek and usually focuses on Kiyokawa’s orchard, a favorite stand. The difference is this year we are early by nearly a month and thus the selection is different. We’re looking for peaches and plums with thoughts of preserving a few, and of course making Pflaumenkuchen.

Bartlett pears, red and yellow, are part of the early season harvest on the Fruit Loop.

The apple season is just starting so where normally there would be tens of varieties, this day there was maybe half a dozen to choose from. There was also a selection of pears, as they are in season as well. On the other hand, peaches are end of season, but we found some Veterans which we’ll preserve a couple of quarts to keep the pantry up to date.

The drawback to Kiyokawa is they only sell in bulk. The pandemic has curtailed open bins with tasting trays for each variety and now you buy by the pound.

We stopped at a new stand, Pearls Place. There you can pick up individual pieces, as well as boxed or bagged fruit.

Pearl’s had a great variety of stone fruit and in that mix were Italian Prune Plums, which were at the top of our list.

Individual fruit, perfect for tasting varieties like Diamond Princess and O’Henry peaches

Old-fashioned, Cream-line milk from Royal Riverside Farm in Albany, Oregon

It worked out well to hit the orchards at a different point in the season and we are enjoying the peaches as much as the apples and pears. The trip home was through Maupin with lunch on the Deschutes River. It was a great end to a nicely smoke-free day.

Lunch started with freshly sliced peaches, a perfect ending to a great day.

September 27, 2020September 27, 2020

Seasonal journeys

In this house there is always fruit on the counter and in the fridge. We do play favorites and eat mostly to season. Winter is citrus, berries for Spring, Summer is stone fruit and Fall is all about apples and melons.

I think apples are my favorite for everyday eating. Thus we look forward to the fall and our annual trip to the orchards that line the hills around Hood River, Oregon. We make this pilgrimage pretty much every fall for the last dozen years and we always go to the same spot.

Kiyokawa Family Orchards (yeah, I don’t know how to pronounce it either) is about the only place we ever go. There are lots of different stands in the area, check out the Fruit Loop map and website. This place has a huge variety of apples, pears, and plums.

In the past it was a giant apple tasting. Due to current Covid circumstances, they have altered the buying experience a bit. The slices for tasting aren’t sitting on the bins of fruit. They also stopped individually weighing your purchases. Instead, you move through a well thought out social distancing maze, pick out either a box or bag, pay, then proceed to fill with fruit of your choice.

Winding your way past tubs of fruit, you can pick from all offerings, exiting near where you started, only now you have a box of apples and pears.

The only problem is trying to remember the different varieties and maintaining tasting notes so you can find the ones you like best next year.

– book note –

You should find a copy of Dan Rather’s recent book “What Unites Us”. A timely discussion on America, democracy and the fragile threads holding our nation together. We’ve been working through it a chapter at a time, reading it aloud to each other. Excellent book, sparking energetic discussion.