Thank You For Your Interest In Adopt A Tree

• We have closed the application process for 2006.
• We will again accept applications for next year's crop in January 2007.

Help Save The Peach In 2006 - Adopt A Tree!

I organically farm a wonderful old heirloom peach named Elberta. I need your help.

Elberta is one of those old fashioned, creamy, buttery smooth peaches with a bright yellow flesh and a golden skin when ripe.

Some of you will remember the magical name Elberta. It invokes memories of a family tree in the back yard or eating a fresh ripe peach a long time ago. These stories still echo in my orchards, flavors that shout out “family” and “memory”.

Like many older varieties, Elbertas bruise easily when harvested and shipped, especially in today’s commercial environment. These peaches were meant to be handpicked by family and friends.

So how can you get a taste of these gems? By adopting a tree.

Personalized Produce

One of my goals is to personalize my produce. Our work on the Masumoto Family Farm is not just to grow something that people pay money for. I take this personally - and want consumers, peach lovers, food enthusiasts to share my passion.

And here’s an opportunity to extend that beyond a market or store - and a chance for you to visit our family farm and harvest your own peaches. In the process you share my dilemmas, challenges and rewards as a family farmer.

By adopting a tree, these Elbertas will be yours for a year of gestation. We at the Masumoto farm will take care of the early work of pruning, irrigating and pest control, all farmed organically using the best natural practices (by the way, the entire farm is certified organic).

However, the most critical time will be your responsibility - the moment of crucial decisions and trying to understand the dramatic rhythm of farming: Harvest Time.

Adopt A Lifestyle, Harvest Like A Farmer

Your tree will be waiting for you. We will keep you abreast of how your peaches are doing.

Like most natural arrivals, delivery date cannot be predetermined or scheduled. We approximate harvest time will be the last Saturday in July or the first or second Saturday in August. Your peaches will be ready for your hands to carry them to their new homes. This is very much like giving birth naturally (we don’t schedule Cesarean peaches on our farm)!

You and your family, friends, neighbors will come to the Masumoto farm and hand harvest your own peaches.

For two Saturdays you can come pick, enjoy, select ripe, over ripe and ripening fruit - and determine how you want to use your harvest.

We suggest you adopt a tree with others - your extended family, your neighbors, perhaps a group or an organization can adopt a tree and send a small work crews to come do the harvest! We will provide some ladders and picking boxes - you’ll need to provide the personal touch.

A note about harvest:

We are tentatively planning on two consecutive Saturdays for delivery dates - in late July and early August. We cannot predict this in advance, and may only be able to provide a week notice (it is all about working with nature).

Harvesting will be early in the morning and must finish by late morning (it can be terribly hot in Fresno - 100 degree days are common) - and you and your team will be responsible for all the work.

The reason for two Saturdays has to do with the fruit - not all of your peaches will ripen at the same time. When you come pick, some fruit will be very ripe (ready to eat on the spot), some ready to eat in a few days after picking, the rest for the next harvest day. So prepare for a variety of fruit - peaches you’ll eat or give away that day or bake and prepare a few days later... welcome to the life of a farmer.

By the way, you can always split the harvest days with others - some taking the first Saturday and others the second. Or you can just come harvest one day and donate your second picking to a community food bank program we are in the process of setting up.

And while we encourage groups to adopt a tree, please note the limitations of parking on our farm and we will not have ladders and buckets for everyone!

About Our Family Farm

The Masumoto farm is located a few miles south of Fresno, California. By car, it takes about 3-4 hours from San Francisco or Los Angeles - so make your harvest day plans accordingly.

We will be open for harvest only on the specified days. This is a working farm!

How It Works:

1. Fill out the adoption papers - the Masumoto family will consider only a few applications a year. We take this very personally, that’s how we farm and how we work.
   
    

2. Adoption papers can be found here.
   
    

3. If accepted, you’ll be notified and given detailed information.
   
    
4. The adoption fee is $250 per tree.
   
    
5. You will be doing the harvesting and will keep all your peaches.
   
    
6. Be prepared for approximately 150 to 200 lbs per tree.
   
    

7. You will be kept posted on the projected “delivery date” but be aware, the date may not be finalized until a few weeks prior to arrival. It’s like the delivery of a baby, a natural birth.

Please, Give Peach A Chance!

Mas Masumoto