Beekeepers, orchardists, flower farmers, growers of vegetables, cattle ranchers, dairy farmers, egg handlers, and more—Placer County is home to small scale farmers of all sorts and summer is a busy time for them all.
On our own Twin Brooks Farm in Loomis we just harvested our first ever honey crop. Twenty hives of busy bees journeyed from mandarin blossoms to rosemary to star thistle to countless other plants blooming in the neighborhood to make this rich honey. Our beekeeper, Dave, will join us on Saturday, July 14, from 11 to 2, to offer samples of his sweet wares and answer your honey questions.
Thanks to those bees and their aptitude for pollination, Twin Brooks Farm has abundant summer produce. Coming into season this month are Walla Walla, Red Burger, Placer Sweet and Torpedo sweet onions; tomatoes including cherries, slicers and heirlooms; nine varieties of summer squash; slicing, lemon, Persian, and pickling cucumbers (and dill crowns for pickles); three kinds of basil; four kinds of potatoes; eggplant; beans and pink eyed peas; several kinds of melons and peppers; and a few other things to keep it interesting.
Our daughter Laura is again harvesting bunches and bunches of bright sunflowers and zinnias, and Happy Road Farm, also in Loomis, is bringing us charming, old-fashioned mixed bouquets.
Up the road from us a piece, Foothill Roots Farm in Meadow Vista grows summer lettuce, spring mix and greens that appreciate their slightly cooler growing conditions. We love having their greens this time of year.
In Newcastle, Twin Peaks Orchards keep us supplied with peaches, nectarines, and some plums throughout the season, while John Ohnoki in Auburn will soon start harvesting Asian and Bartlett pears.
Over in Sheridan, the Neilson’s chickens are squawking about the heat but still they keep laying eggs for all of our breakfasts.
Tiny Plum Possum Farm in Lincoln has their wonderful Armenian cucumbers again, and Otow Orchards in Granite Bay has sent us some tasty Santa Rosa Plums via daughter-in-law Christy who works in our produce department.
All in all, July is a delicious month to live in Placer County. Enjoy the abundance!
—Jan