A summer bbq isn’t quite complete without a juicy and refreshing watermelon. But it isn’t always easy selecting a watermelon. We’ve seen many tap on their watermelon, knock their watermelon, or even smell it, but do those techniques actually work or do we just leave it up to chance? Here are a few tips to help you select the sweetest and juiciest watermelon this summer.
What to look for in a Watermelon
Field Spot – These are the yellow spots, due to the place where the watermelon rested on the ground. Ripe watermelons always have creamy yellow or even orange-yellow spots.
Photo Credit: https://produceguide.wordpress.com/
Webbing – Watermelons require pollination of their flowers from bees. This brown webbing is scarring that occurs as a result of the pollination. The more pollination, the sweeter the watermelon!
Tail – No Curly Tail! When a watermelon is ripe, the vine that is attached will wither and fall off. When a green tail is attached to a watermelon, it is usually an indication that it was picked soon and did not have enough time to ripen.
No Curly Tail
Gender – Farmers differentiate watermelon by gender, ‘boy’ watermelons are tall and elongated while ‘girl’ watermelons are round and stout. Many say boy watermelons are juicier, while the girl watermelons are sweeter.
Weight – Pick the watermelon up. The watermelon should be heavy for its size. Watermelon is 92% water, most of the weight is water.
Watermelons and other seasonal melons can also be found at our farm stands:
For visitors to East Contra Costa County, the steady stream of orchards, farms, and fruit stands may all blur together into one beautiful, but indistinguishable, landscape. For locals, we know that each farm, family and fruit stand has a unique story that invites you into the history of their family and the stories of their fruit. It is often the history of the farm and the narratives of the family that bring visitors back to each orchard annually. One special farm lining the backroads of Brentwood is Rancho Zaragoza, Harvest Time Member #17. A small, boutique farm with the warmth of family and friends, worth visiting on every trip to Brentwood.
A Touch of History
Rancho Zaragoza was founded 17 years ago when the Zaragoza family made the decision to move from Concord to Brentwood. Owner Leticia Hernandez explained, “We wanted to raise our kids in a small town” where they would learn, “how hard work can still be a lot of fun.” Located on an expansive slice of Brentwood at 1320 Walnut Blvd, Rancho Zaragoza first served as only a family farm, where Hernandez and her husband raised their four children while slowly building the property to what it is today.
Hernandez speaks passionately about her family and the roles everyone had on the ranch growing up. She, herself was a Spanish teacher while her husband managed an intense full-time career away from the ranch as well. Her children all attended school in Concord – making many days extremely full. But, Leticia explained, “Family farms means our family had to work together, depend on each other, and learn responsibility – and we always had a lot of fun and laughter.” And this is exactly what she, and her husband, sought to do when they founded the ranch.
Photo by Ron EssexPhoto by Ron Essex
A Family Affair
Today, the children and Rancho Zaragoza have all grown. However, the growth has only brought them closer together. The success of the ranch depends on the growing family remaining committed to the work on the ranch. Leticia explained that her eldest son is her “right-hand man” and spends most of his days at the ranch helping. As she, herself, retired from the school system, her days are also now filled with the joy of the ranch and the people that visit.
Hernandez loves how her days are filled with the inner workings of the ranch. Through bouts of laughter, she said, “We are just so busy. But, we are busy living our dream together!” Hard work managing a growing farm and orchard seem to be joyful challenges. Leticia stated, “Life is beautiful. I have so much work, but I have so many beautiful things to see. I am excited for my life every single day.”
Photo by Ron Essex
What to Expect
Leticia stated, “I love people. And I love that people always leave our ranch with a smile. What more could you ask for?” And this sentiment is exactly what you can expect while visiting Rancho Zaragoza. Build with the time, labor and love of family working together, every customer that visits the property is met with a smile and invited into the Zaragoza family.
Today, Rancho Zaragoza is more than just a family farm dedicated to teaching young children good work ethic. The property has a farm, where many animals are milling around, including chickens, goats, cows, and horses. The orchards are what bring most visitors to the property. With U-Pick and Pre-Picked options, cherries, white peaches, apricots, yellow peaches, plums, and Asian pears are all available, pending growing seasons.
Photo by Ron Essex
Schedule Your Visit
The joy, love and passion that emanates from Rancho Zaragoza is contagious. U-PIck for cherries opens Memorial Day weekend. For typical hours of operation and to learn which fruit is in season and available, make sure you check out the Rancho Zaragoza farm page on 54.245.40.194/. You can also call the farm directly at 925-212-7336.
If you love cherries, you can freeze them and enjoy them year round. Prior to freezing them, you will need to destone them, and the best way is to use a kitchen tool like the one below.
PRE-PICKED ONLY – Cherries, Peaches, Nectarines, Apricots, Strawberries, and other Fruits
Most of our Cherry U-Pick Farms will be OPEN but please check the message posted on each farm page, farms are listed below or follow the steps to search!
****Farm hours are subject to change so please check farm page prior to heading out
Turn A Morning In Cherry Picking Into A Day of Exploring
Cherry picking is a fun activity the whole family can enjoy. From young children excited to explore a working farm to great-grandparents reminiscing about their childhood days scouring trees for the sweetest, juiciest fruit, u-pick season is the perfect activity to make fun, lasting memories for the entire family. But, the Contra Costa cherry picking area has so much more to do than pick cherries. If you are looking for more than cherries to pick, follow these simple tips to explore Brentwood after a morning of visiting farms.
Plan Your Morning Fruit Picking
The best way to get the first pick of fresh fruit is to plan on arriving at the U-Pick farms early. Most open as early as 9 AM. The benefit of arriving early is cooler temperatures, easier parking opportunities and your choice of fruit. Our cherry trees are still dripping in cherries – so, there is more than enough for everyone. However, the earlier you plan on picking, the more time you have to explore.
Keep in mind, the fruit will last longer if you store it in a cooler after you pick it. Be sure to pack a cooler, ice and perhaps even a change of shoes for post fruit picking adventures. There are also many farms that offer different cherry varieties. Use the filter feature on our website to view all U-Pick farms and then check the individual farm pages for their hours.
Find A Place For Lunch
A full morning of cherry picking and fruit buying at local farm stands means a big appetite for lunch. Luckily, Brentwood and surrounding towns have a huge variety of options that will answer everyone’s palates. From traditional Mexican cuisine to enjoying more casual treats, such as hot dogs, a quick visit to the Harvest Time Associate Members page will introduce you to a smorgasbord of delicious eateries. Your biggest dilemma will be where to eat and if you want to take it to go!
Keep in mind, our U-Pick communities have beautiful parks you can enjoy. For example, if you have little kids, perhaps picking up a picnic lunch and enjoying it at the Blue Goose Park, located on O’Hara will give parents shaded tables to rest and a splash pad for kids to cool off and play in. City Park, located in downtown Brentwood, offers a full play structure, restrooms and a lot of shade trees for you to relax under.
The Historic Downtown Corridor in Brentwood is a perfect way to end your U-Pick adventures. With cute boutiques, fun eateries, and charming storefronts, downtown Brentwood is a relaxing way to end a day. Shaded streets, park benches, water features, and friendly faces will invite you to learn more about the community that supports the local farmers, fruit stands and U-Pick orchards. Wandering through the historic city center is relaxing and a fun way to end a day of family, fruit and country life. Many warm summer evenings you may come across live music, concerts, and other community events happening downtown for you to enjoy as well.
Enjoy Cherry Season
Plan a visit to far East County and enjoy the rich farming history, dozens of U-Pick farms, pre-pick farms, parks, restaurants, and our downtown. If you are looking for a fun way to spend the day, jump in the car and head out to our farms and have some summer fun.
Our U-Pick season is going strong and with this year’s high yield, we have lots of cherries available for picking and many more coming soon.
Preparing the Cherries for the Trip Home
Regardless of how long the trip home is, take some steps to ensure the sweet cherries you meticulously picked remain in prime condition for eating when you get home.
First, keep your cherries cool. Make sure your freshly picked cherries stay out of direct sunlight. It is best to place them under the shade of a tree while you finishing picking.
For the drive home, place your cherries carefully in the trunk of your car. It is also a good idea to bring a cooler with some ice. Keeping your cherries cool will help them stay fresher, longer.
Only wash what the cherries you eat. When you get home, wash them right before you eat them instead of washing them all at once. This also preserves the cherries for longer storage.
For longer storage,refrigerate theminstead of leaving them on the counter.
We are excited to announce that our farms will be open for U-Pick this Memorial Day Weekend. With an exceptional yield this year, there are still plenty of great cherries and plenty more on the way! Please keep in mind that Harvest Time farms grow many cherry varieties ripening at various times so there will many more cherries and other fruits on their way.
Here are some tips to keep you safe while out in the farms
*************Please keep in mind that this list will be modified throughout the weekend so keep checking back for update
The rain may have dampened the kick-off to the U-Pick season, but farmers say it’s only an inconvenience in what’s expected to be an exceptional cherry season.
Rain, hail and heavy winds, completely uncharacteristic of East Contra Costa’s mild May months, saturated local orchards over the weekend. The mild, wet winter was celebrated as being one of the core reasons this year’s cherry crops were to be some of the best in nearly seven years. The perfect balance of heavy rains and cool temperatures allowed for a long pollination period. The results are bumper crops with exceptionally sweet, juicy and big cherries. However, rain at the wrong time of year could mean devastation to farmers. Seasonally late rains have the potential to damage crops.
Why Rain Is A Problem
Winter rains help trees remain hydrated, which is one of the important aspects of cultivating a sweet and juicy cherry crop. However, rains that hit once cherries have ripened are a recipe for damaged fruit and lost crops. Rainwater can trickle down through the stem and through the membrane of the cherry. This water can cause the cherry to expand. As soon as the heat hits the cherries, like when the sun comes out after a storm, cherries can expand and crack. Once the fruit is cracked open, it may harm the integrity of the fruit. The cherries most vulnerable to rain are cherries that are ripe, or close to being ripe. This is because the cherry skin is thinnest and most likely to absorb water. For early varieties of cherries, May showers did shut down cherry orchards temporarily while farmers took initiative to preserve their crops.
How Farmers Worked To Preserve the Crop
With the forecast for rain and hail, farmers knew they had to be proactive to protect their orchards and cherry crops. To protect the crops, our farmers brought in helicopters! In rainy weather, helicopters hover over orchards and fan the trees. Just like a giant blow dryer, helicopters produce such powerful air streams that any water on the tree, leaves or fruit is blown off. In the case of our orchards, helicopters were placed on standby as soon as news of rain hit. This allows the helicopters to begin drying the Chery trees as soon as weather permitted to fly safely.
The muddy ground also meant closing down the U-pick orchards. First, muddy orchards are difficult to navigate. Second, muddy orchards may expose irrigation equipment that could be damaged, or potentially hurt, a visitor. Third, as much fun as ladders are to climb for people looking for the sweetest, juiciest cherries, ladders in mud can be a hazard. The first step in preparing for rains is taking steps to make sure visitors to the orchards were safe.
The most exciting news is that with the proactive steps our farmers took to protect our customers and the fruit, this past week of storms is nothing but an inconvenience to the start of cherry season. With an exceptional yield this year, there are still plenty of great cherries, and plenty more on the way!
Our Harvest Time farms grow many cherry varieties ripening at various times from mid-May through July. Since most of our cherries are still ripening, they’re less likely to suffer the effect from this rain. This equates to the predicted bumper crop still coming to fruition!
Plan Your Cherry Picking Experience
With the late storms passing, now is the perfect time to plan your U-Pick cherry picking experience. Visit your favorite farm page to learn which orchards are open and what fruit you can expect to find. You can also find directions, hours of operation, and other tips to make your U-Pick experience a great one.
Cherry season started out unconventionally with the rain. But, with the orchards still full of ripening fruit, cherry season will be a memorable one with sweet fruit, fun, and a true U-Pick experience!
The long-awaited cherry season has arrived, with a limited number of orchards opening this weekend. “The crop looks really good,” saidMark Maggiore of Maggiore Cherry Ranch, #5 on the Harvest Time Farm Trail Map. “The cherries are a little on the light side. Next weekend (May 17-18) will be primo forus.”
Different varieties of cherries have different ripening times, so not all orchards will be open this weekend. A lot also depends on the cooler temperatures expected.
“The weather coming up might slow down the crop,” said JessicaEnos of 5 Star Cherries, Harvest Time #48. Some orchards could stay open through June.
Joe Ghiggeri of G&S Farms, Harvest Time #11 said, “Hard to justify until we pick. But we haven’t had a crop like this since 2012. Seems like all varieties have a very nice crop. The cooler weather over the winter helped the trees stay dormant, extended the pollination period and rain kept trees hydrated. All those factors had made this year promising..”
You can also download a copy of the2019 Farm Trail Map. Harvest Time’s 2019 Farm Trail Map provides information on
60 farms
roadside stands
wineries
stores featuring local farm products.
Printed copies of the map will be available at The Brentwood Press, Brentwood Park and Recreation offices, the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce, and in numerous stores and restaurants. Alongside the Farm Trail Maps will be the new Better in Brentwood brochure listing 50 stores, restaurants, recreational opportunities in the Brentwood area.
U-Pick can be a wonderful family activity. It allows you to spend some time outside, enjoy time with your family and friends, and bring home some sweet, juicy and delicious fresh fruits and vegetables. It is also a unique opportunity to meet some of the farmers who are dedicated to providing you with fresh fruits and veggies to enjoy. Plus, the experience of actually harvesting your own produce is unique and truly a treat. However, it is important to realize that U-pick farms are a privilege. By following some simple guidelines, you can ensure the gift of U-Pick farms remains one you can enjoy for many years to come.
Photo by ronessexphotography.com
At Harvest Time for Brentwood, many of our farmers will have their house rules near their fruit stands. But, these guidelines are great ones to review with your family and friends before you arrive at the orchard. This will show respect for the farmers and ensure you have an excellent and safe U-Pick experience.
Never climb the fruit trees: Trees are fragile and are not designed to support your weight. Once a branch is broken, it will jeopardize the entire tree and expose it to disease and insects and decrease the amount of fruit the tree can provide. Plus, it is a safety hazard. Visiting an orchard should never end in a trip to the ER.
Only pick the fruit you intend to pay for:Once you pick the fruit, you must purchase it. Teach your kids to pick ripe fruit – unripened fruit will not mature. Remember, if you pick-it, you pay for it.
No pets: Please leave your pets at home. They are not allowed on the farms due to health regulations.
Do not steal from the farmers:It may seem like you are just tasting the berries as you pick, but taking and consuming fruit without paying is stealing. Farming is a difficult business – support the farms, the farmers and the high-quality fruits and pay for what you pick.
If you drop fruit, pick it up:Please make every effort to pick up the fruit you drop and purchase it so no fruit is wasted. Farming is labor-intensive and dropped fruit will rot and attract rodents and insects we work hard to keep away from the crops.
Use appropriate restroom facilities:We know you are outside. However, we ask that you use restroom facilities to relieve yourself. Our orchards are well-maintained and provide food for all our visitors. Do not soil the ground and plan ahead. Not all farms have restrooms available.
No picnics:Picnics are not allowed at the orchard. If you bring snacks or water bottles, please take any packaging or empty bottles with you and dispose of your trash in appropriate receptacles.
Watch your children closely:Orchards can be wonderful places of adventures and exploration for children. However, keep your children within arms reach. Fields can be muddy, irrigation equipment abounds, and trees can be tempting to climb. Watch your children closely to ensure they are not injured and do not damage trees or expensive farm equipment.
Be considerate of the property and other guests:Keep in mind that you are truly at someone’s home. Be respectful of the property and other visitors to the orchard. Please do not smoke.
Enjoy the experience:Enjoy your experience at the orchard. Ask questions about the fruit, try more than one variety and only buy the amount of fruit you can eat in a week. Share your experience with your friends to continue supporting our local farm community.
To view a list of U-pick farms, visit our farm page.
Current Farms offering U-pick or Pre-picked Strawberries:
Cherry U-Pick Farms
Strawberry U-Pick or Pre-Picked
