| While Bay Area summers can tend toward mild and foggy, stone fruit brings a ray of sweet sunshine to the summer farmers market, in a rainbow of colors and flavors.
Cherries, apricots, peaches, and plums are commonly known as “stone fruit,” referring to the hard pits that cover their seeds. These members of the genus Prunus consist of flowering trees bearing fleshy, pitted fruits known as drupes. Freestone drupes have flesh that can be easily separated from the seeds, while clingstone fruits are messier but often juicier and more flavorful. Almonds also fall in the Prunus camp, though it’s the seed rather than the flesh that we eat.
Since most stone fruit varieties have a brief harvest window, each week brings new surprises, with favorites like O’Henry peaches and Flavor Grenade pluots making cameos at the farmers market. Here’s a quick guide to stone fruit you can look forward to throughout the season. | 