Apricots are the first blushing, golden orbs that signal the beginning of summer and the stone fruit harvest. Their skin is soft and velvety and ranges from a pale yellow-orange to a rich tangerine color - occasionally with a sun-kissed pale blush, while the flesh usually is a vibrant shade of orange. Fresh apricots have a plentiful supply of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and fiber and are available from Kingsburg Orchards from May until August.
Our Velvet™ Series Apricots are IS Apricots, or Inter-Specific Apricots. This means that they are in the Apricot family, but have been pollinated by plums. The first Velvet we developed was our Black Velvet™ Apricot. We were at once enamored with its honey-sweet golden flesh and striking velvety black skin. Our customers were disappointed with its limited 2-3 week availability each year, so we set to work seeing what other sister varieties we could propagate. We soon had enough varieties to have a Velvet available from May to the beginning of August. Each one has its own unique flavor and skin color, and is only available for a short period each summer - so if they're available in your area, be sure to try them all!
But what exactly is an Aprium? Apriums are a hybrid between an apricot and a plum. There are three types of apricot-plum hybrids: aprium, plumcot, and pluot. Apriums are close to 75% apricot, 25% plum. They look, smell, and taste very much like an apricot, but they are juicier, have a slightly firmer texture, better transportability, and a longer shelf life that they gain from cross-pollinating with the hardier plum.
Find out more about: The History of the Apricot
Apricots |
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Aprium Variety Types | Availability |
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Honey Gold | 4/25 |
Golden Sweet | 4/28 |
Flavorella | 5/11 |
Flavor Sweet | 5/12 |
Bella Sweet | 6/1 |
Brittany Gold | 7/1 |
* Proprietary Varieties are shown in Bold Italics |
Apricot Variety Types | Availability |
---|---|
Diamond Cot | 4/20 |
Poppy | 4/25 |
Apache | 4/30 |
Early Cot | 4/30 |
Tasty Rich | 5/4 |
Escort | 5/10 |
Big Daddy | 5/15 |
Wescot | 5/16 |
Patterson | 5/29 |
Robata | 6/2 |
Coral | 6/2 |
Queen Cot | 6/6 |
Brittany Gold | 7/1 |
Sunrise | 7/28 |
* Proprietary Varieties are shown in Bold Italics |
Velvet™ Series Variety Types | Availability |
---|---|
Red Velvet | 5/14 |
Blue Velvet | 5/28 |
Crimson Velvet | 6/3 |
Gold Velvet | 6/9 |
Black Velvet™ | 6/10 |
Ruby Velvet | 7/30 |
* Proprietary Varieties are shown in Bold Italics |