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Okra is a staple in southern soul food. This flowering plant is related to the mallow family (cotton, cocoa, and hibiscus) and is widely enjoyed in cuisine across the globe. You might be surprised to find okra in your CSA basket from your local farm in Phoenix, Arizona though. That’s because okra is a drought-tolerant plant that loves the heat!
Okra is considered a superfood. It is a high-fiber food rich in vitamins and minerals. Dietitians consider it as a cholesterol-lowering food as well.
Okra contains a component called mucilage, which becomes a natural thickener when it’s heated. This slimy, thick goo is what makes okra perfect for gumbo recipes. Mucilage is the same chemical compound found in aloe vera which is commonly grown in Arizona and used to soothe sunburns!
If that slimy texture turns you off to trying okra, have no fear! When cooked properly, under high heat and low moisture, you can enjoy okra without the goo. Try this roasted okra with creole remoulade.
With the onset of Peach Season, we thought you might like to read a little about how we ripen, pick, sell, and care for our peaches.
We spend all year getting ready for our peach season. The trees get trimmed in late summer just lightly to keep them from growing to tall. Then in January & February, Eric spends weeks trimming the trees to get the right fruiting wood and spacing. Starting in late February and March, we are thinning the peach blossoms so the peaches have room to grow. We are always watering and watching trees for any growth problems and deciding what trees need to get grafted.
Amadio Ranch's peach season runs early May through late June. This is due to having several different varieties of peach trees that ripen at different times. We have yellow peaches, white peaches, donut peaches, semi-cling and cling free peaches.
Amadio Ranch peaches come in all sizes. As we start the season, our peaches tend to be smaller due to the short ripening time frame. As we get into late May and June, the peaches have longer to ripen on the tree and thus grow bigger.
This is also true for cling vs semi-cling. What does that mean? Well it means how easily the flesh of the peach comes off the pit. If you are trying to slice up a peach, a cling free peach will slip off the pit easily. A semi-cling free peach will leave some of the flesh behind. As we get later into the season, our peaches cling less.
At Amadio Ranch, we have spent years perfecting the peach picking process. Our end goal is to give you a soft, sweet peach that sends juice down your arm. To do this, we must pick our peaches when they are almost ready to eat. We give them a light "squeeze" to test their softness and place them immediately into the clamshell that we sell the peaches in. This puts the peach into a protected cup to keep them from bruising. We are very careful about moving the box of peaches around and try to keep them as stable as possible to eliminate bruising. This is challenging and we do sort through the peaches right before we put them out to sell to check for any bruises or damage.
When you purchase peaches from Amadio Ranch, they should be ready to eat. When you get them home, give them a soft squeeze. If they give, then eat them up within a day or two and keep them in the refrigerator. If the peach is a little harder than you like, leave that peach on the counter overnight and test it again in the morning. We hope you love your peaches that we work on all year to harvest for you.
This is a common question this time of year. At least a dozen times a weekend our phone rings with this question. So why don't we let people U-Pick?
Quality. Peaches picked early never fully develop the aroma and texture that they are supposed to. And what we have seen in U-Pick orchards is that the best fruit gets picked early and later people pick unripe fruit just to have something to pick. It may be fun but its seriously not great for flavor.
Our biggest goal in doing peaches is to provide you with the best peach experience of your life. So to that end we baby those trees, trim and care for them 365 days a year. And we pick those peaches at just the right time. Its all this care that we put into them that sets ours apart. So enjoy! We have done all the work for you and the only thing left is to let the bliss of a perfectly ripe peach dribble down your chin. Like we always say..."lean over because its gonna drip on your shirt!"
The Amadios
