I've been away, in the mountains, out of reception, away from the world. On our way back to civilization, we stopped at a road side shop to inquire about fresh fruit as we were travelling through endless orchards. The guy on the other side of the counter directed us to a 'packing house', so off we went.
If you've ever wondered how the dried fruit in the bag you just bought got there, here's a picture story of everything that happens between point A and point B.
This is a giant cold storage unit. It was completely filled with fresh peaches, plums, nectarines and pears. The prices were excellent compared to the shops but unfortunately the farm doesn't do orders and certainly doesn't post! They harvest from their own lands and buy in from the surrounding farms, dry on sight and wholesale everything in one go, if you live next you pop by every week and stock up.
The processing area is relatively small but all of the fruit gets chopped up and processed in here and then immediately goes outside.
These machines were so nifty! They were like something out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! The peaches roll down a little ramp and get individually separated. Each and every one then gets lifted up by means of an electronic arm and inserted into a slicer which cuts the peach in half and drops the pip.
The peaches then exit via a conveyor belt to a peeling station where the peaches get graded and each peach is peeled by hand!
The peaches get thoroughly sorted. They make sure that no rotten ones get through.
Then they get placed side by side onto drying trays which get piled up onto a dolly and taken outside.
There were trays of peaches drying outside in the sun for about one kilometer around the packing house. It was a beautiful yummy sight to see, they also grow tomatoes so the landscape was formed of red and orange and bright orange rows!
It's so cool to learn how your food happens!
This is an amazing story ! My aunt did this on their small farm many years ago.. near Randburg Gauteng, South Africa, ..when I was little..They dried all the peeled yellow peaches on the garage roof top .. plus stored pumpkins on it when picked..
ReplyDeleteThere was one advantage,,. that fruit was not treated with Sulphur Dioxide ! And Ive seen all dried fruit that is sold in the super markets and spice shops.. is treated with Sulphur Dioxide.. understandably..
But I am looking for untreated dried fruit... so far only raisins and prunes are not treated with it...yet in the Uk shops u can buy dried apricots with no sulphur dioxide... Apparently that chemical changes the colour to a gold colour which sells better , such as sultanas which are raisins ! so I was told... I always cough if there is any Sulph. Diox. in foods or fruit juices... so I cannot eat any dried fruit sold in the usual outlets...alas !! But maybe these dried peaches are not treated with Sulph. Diox. ? Will have to find out !