Stone fruit season is right around the corner, and we’re excited to start bringing in apricots from our grower, Blossom Hill, located in Patterson, California! For those not familiar, Patterson is a small town along Interstate 5, widely considered one of the best regions in the world for growing apricots.
For more than four decades, Blossom Hill has been dedicated to cultivating, packing, and shipping apricots. They pride themselves on maintaining a rigorous, top-tier GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) program in their orchards, along with PrimusGFS certification in their packing facility. Today, they farm over 1,000 acres of apricots and cherries, with approximately 200 acres certified organic.
One of their signature varieties is the Patterson apricot, named after the town where it’s grown, which is typically harvested between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, making it the perfect way to kick off summer!
Blossom Hill grows both apricots and apriums, which you may see featured in our boxes throughout the season. Apriums are a hybrid of apricots and plums (roughly 75/25), with the appearance of an apricot but the sweetness, firmness, and juiciness of a plum. You may also spot other stone fruit hybrids in our boxes, including plumcots (about a 50/50 apricot-plum cross) and pluots (closer to 75/25 plum to apricot). Each brings its own unique balance of flavor and texture to the table!
