From the start of the summer fruit season to the finish, Homegrown Organic Farms in Porterville, CA, markets a full line of organic products in the various stone fruit categories, including several new varieties, “as we continue, as a company, to offer a full-service [program of] year-round offerings of organic fruit to customers,” said Stephen Paul, sales manager for stone fruit, specialty fruit and grapes.

Those summer fruit programs are followed by an expanding program of fall fruit.

“We have a lot of exciting things that are happening within these areas and these commodities and these categories,” he said April 11.

For the summer fruit program, “we start off with apricots,” Paul said. He expected the first variety, Tasty Rich, to start around April 22. Tasty Rich is a “phenomenal” piece of fruit with “a beautiful full color” and is “one of the best eating pieces of fruit early on.”

Next, “we come in with a very nice program of Zee Fire nectarines, which we think will probably start somewhere around the first week in May,” he said.

“That is an incredible nectarine, full color, full body, great flavor for an early nectarine, with good size. All things considered, it starts the season off really, I think, on the right foot, because it does eat well, it looks good, and it gives the consumer ultimately a nice piece of fruit that they can enjoy in early summer.”

“Following about 10 days later is the Flavorosa Pluot,” he said. That is an early red flesh variety with exceptional flavor. “We have a very good program on that and have been very successful, again giving the retailer a nice piece of fruit that eats well and basically starts the season off on the right foot” by giving consumers “a very good piece of fruit to eat,” Paul said.

From there, “we move into some early peaches” that complement the yellow nectarines. Among them are Sugar Time and May Sweet, followed by Zee Diamond, all yellow-flesh peach varieties.

By early to mid-May, other Pluot and apricot varieties are also under way. “At that point, we consider ourselves in full production” because so many things are happening, Paul said.

“We continue the harvest in an ongoing basis through the month of May with those commodities.” Then, near the end of May, “we introduce a white flesh peach” to the mix, and a few plums “start finding their way into the market” as well, he said. “We don’t have a bunch of early plums,” choosing to wait for the better-flavored varieties. “We really want a good-eating plum” such as “a Black Splendor or a Black Amber and on into our Friars on the blacks. As red plums go, we only have a few varieties,” notably Hiromi Red and Fortune, in June and July, Paul added.

Following the early peach varieties, “we run into the middle to late part” of the season “with a very strong program of yellow peaches, pretty much your best eating yellow peaches” such as Vista, Sierra Rich, Elegant Lady, Summer Zee and Sweet Dream, “all market type varieties that have good flavor and good appearance and good handling abilities,” he said. It is “a very solid yellow peach campaign” that runs from June nearly to the end of July.

Several new varieties are beginning to come into production. “We have some white nectarines working their way in,” Paul said. The company may have a few of those to offer as samples this year, but they will definitely be in production in 2015 and 2016.

In Homegrown Organic Farms’ Pluot program, “we definitely have some highlighted spots,” Paul said. One of those is the Honey Punch. “It is a phenomenal variety that is mottled red to dark” on the exterior. Inside, “it bleeds into a red flesh” that lightens toward the center of the fruit. “It is a beautiful piece of fruit, and it is a retailer favorite.” It is a fairly new variety with a high sugar profile.

For late summer, “we have some proprietary varieties [of stone fruit] we are working on” that “accentuate flavor,” he said. “I can’t disclose too much” about them yet, but they are “in the works.”

Aside from the stone fruit category, “we have an emerging Asian pear program” starting with summer varieties and moving into fall, Paul said.

“Our fall offerings are a growing category,” he continued. “We are growing the Asian pear program.” Homegrown has a large and expanding pomegranate program that has been “very successful for the past two years.” Also, the company has a persimmon program in the fall.