FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1982
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SOFT FRUIT
The Soft Fruits we carry are: Apricots, Peaches, Nectarines & Plums.
Apricots - Belonging to the rose family an apricot is closey related to the almond, peach, plum and cherries families.
Peaches - one of the most celebrated soft fruits in BC! Peaches are a round, sweet juicy stone fruit. They are a fuzzy cream or yellow skin flushed with red. The peaches we carry are: Early Red Haven, Red Haven, Glo Haven, Crest Haven & OHenry.
Nectarines - just like peaches, nectarines are also part of the rose family. The Freshest, best locally grown nectarines are carefully selected by Ralph himself! Straight from the South Okanagan/Similkameen regions of BC.
Plums - Ranging from a yellow to almost black appearance, plums are a smooth and juicy tasting fruit! But remember as a rule of thumb lighter swings have sweeter skins while the darker skins have a more tart taste. The plums we carry are: Prune, Black, Red & President Plums.
Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
SOFT FRUIT
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Apricots
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Cherries
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Grapes
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Nectarines
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Pears
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Peaches
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Plums
APRICOTS
The apricot is a real peach of a fruit (pun intended). It belongs to the rose family and is closely related to the almond, peach, plum, and cherry. The BC Okanagan valley provides the ideal climate for growing apricots and produces Canada’s entire commercial crop!
The arrival of the apricot begins the soft fruit season. This delicate fruit has a velvety skin that can range in colour from a gold blush to a deep, burnt orange. Its texture is more smooth and sweet than juicy. The intense flavour is slightly musky and faintly tart – like a combination of a peach and plum.
Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
CHERRIES
Staining your lips and fingers on this summertime treat is a right of passage for many when summer arrives. Every cherry stain will reward you with a sharp, sweet, fleshy yet juicy flavour. These bit sizes rounds of tastiness are grown in three different types: Sweet, Sour & Wild.
When it comes to cherries, here are some of the types we carry: Chelan, Santina, Cristalina, Tieton, Rainers, Lapins, Sweethearts, Skeena , Regina, Staccato.
Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
grapes
There is both romance and convenience wrapped up in these healthy small rounds. They feature semi-translucent flesh encased by a smooth skin. Some contain edible seeds while others are seedless. Like blueberries, a protective, whitish bloom covers grapes. It’s a type of berry that grows in bunches on vines. Imagine a nicely chilled, deliciously succulent grape fresh off the stem, and it’s not hard to see how grapes became so popular that they spread throughout the world – one of our oldest cultivated crops.
Most of the flavor inhabits in the skin. The following varieties have different levels of tartness or sweetness and are generally available in the following colours:
Black seedless have a soft skin and very crisp inner meat that is juicy and has a mellow but sweet flavour.
Concord Grapes are blue-black in colour with a dusting of silver that have a thicker skin that covers a jelly-like inner meat that can be squeezed out from the skin. This grape provides a tart taste and a distinctive flavour.
Green Seedless have a thin skin and provide a sweet, juicy flavour.
Red Grapes have a soft skin with a flesh that provides a semi-sweet to slightly tart flavour.
Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
NECTARINES
Aah! Summer fruit – Ralph’s pride and joy! Nectarines are such a refined treat: an elegant flavour combined with a juicy softness and amazing aroma.
Ralph goes straight to the South Okanagan/Similkameen regions of BC to bring you the freshest, best tasting locally grown Nectarines possible. Thankfully, the ability to import has extended the time families have to discover the mouth-watering taste of this intensely sweet, golden flesh. Basically the same fruit as peaches, with the fundamental difference being that nectarines are smooth-skinned and peaches are fuzzy. The smooth skin of a nectarine has a bright red ‘blush’ over a rich yellow background.
Like the peach, cherry, and plum, the nectarine is a member of the rose family, and is classified as a “drupe,” a fruit with a hard stone. In addition, while there are several hundred varieties, there are only two types of nectarine, clingstone, and freestone.
Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
PEARS
The pear is to autumn as the strawberry is to summer. A great fruit to start of packing lunches with nutrition & convenience! Pears are sweet and aromatic and ripen to hold a sweet juicy meat beneath a soft outer thin skin.
Like the apple, the pear is a member of the rose family. The variety of a pear determines the skin colour… from pale yellow to green, red to brown, and shades in between. At Ralph’s we specialize in the following notable varieties in Canada.
Anjou Green and Red
Availability: late September through March
Bosc
Availability: North America – late September to January
Bartletts
Availability: North America – late August to November
Harrowcrisp
Availability: North America – September to January
Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
PLUMS
Prune Plums
Mmm – the Okanagan plum is so smooth and juicy sweet tasting! With a ranging appearance from yellow to almost black, the flesh can taste tart to very sweet and juicy. As a rule of thumb, the lighter coloured skins are have sweeter skins and the darker skins are bitter and tarter tasting.
Closely related to cherries, apricots, and peaches, plums are referred to as a stone fruit, because they contain a stone (pit) in the center of the flesh. Early in the season, you’ll find ‘clingstone’, while ‘freestone’ is showcased later in the summer.
Moreover, whether they are BC fresh or a winter import, plums are either Japanese or European. Japanese varieties come in various shapes, sizes, and colours, except for purple or blue. European plums, on the other hand, are smaller, oval-shaped fruits, and usually purple or blue, elongated, and of the prune plum variety.
Black Plum
Incidentally, when plums are dried they are known as ‘prunes.’
Tasting a black plum from the Okanagan is so amazing! This plum variety has a dark purple to black coloured skin with a firm, but juicy amber to yellow coloured flesh. The flesh provides a somewhat tart to sweet flavour.
How to Enjoy: Of course the pit is removed when the flesh is used as an ingredient in pies, salads, puddings, desserts, or jams and for eating fresh.
PEACHES
Nothing says “summer” better than the juice of a fresh peach running down your chin! A round, sweet juicy stone fruit with a soft, fuzzy cream or yellow surface skin flushed with red. Perhaps the most celebrated of BC’s soft fruits is the peach, which has grown in the Okanagan since the 1890s. With all soft fruits thriving in heat, the southern Okanagan orchards are ideal growing conditions. This area is one of the few regions in the world this far north that successfully grows peaches.
Of the numerous peach varieties grown, they are usually grouped according to the way the flesh of the fruit is attached to its pit. You can choose from cling, semi-cling, or freestone varieties:
Clingstone The first half of the season brings us clingstone fruit, which make good eating, but are hard work if you’re interested in putting up preserves, since they have stones or pits that cling to a firm flesh. Regardless of ripeness, clingstone peaches require prying from the stone. The clingstone variety is best used to purée or dice.
Semi-cling Semi-freestones, smaller than freestones, are hybrids of both the clingstone and freestones. Its welcomed freestone characteristic is a stone that detaches quite easily from the flesh when completely ripened, which allows it to slice nicely. The secret behind the semi-cling’s succulent flavour is its stone. In fact, you’ll find some home canning with stones placed in the jar for added flavour enhancement.
Early Redhaven (available late July) ripens about 2 weeks earlier than its parent – Redhaven – exceeds it in flavour, and inherited all its outstanding features. This early, very attractive peach is cold hardy with brilliant red, semi-clingstone fruit that is firm and yellow fleshed. An incredible choice for fresh eating, pies, and similar uses.
Freestone named after the ability of its flesh to easily separate from the pit. Later varieties are more often freestone, one of the most popular type of peach. These peaches tend to be more flavourful than the early clingstone varieties. Best served in appetizer trays, as sliced toppings on desserts, or for canning where attractive, uniform slices are desired.
Red haven (available early August) The most widely grown variety in BC. It has replaced Elberta as the standard to compare all peaches. Redhaven is usually freestone, although some seasons can raise pits that are a little “clingy.” It has a wonderful red color over a yellow background. This appealing fruit is medium in size, round with a prominent tip and is almost frees from fuzz. The melt-in your-mouth yellow flesh is firm, smooth and fine textured with a little red near the pit. It is juicy, sweet, and very tasty. Excellent for canning, though the redhaven variety is a pleasant selection for all purposes and has outstanding rich flavour when fresh or frozen. Ripens early in the season.
Glohaven (available mid to late August) is a large, nearly round, uniform peach with very little fuzz. Its skin color is mostly red with a golden background. The flesh is yellow and is preferred for canning and freezing because it resists browning. It ripens right on the heels of Redhaven.
Cresthaven peaches are a firm, yellow to red highly coloured variety for late season. The fruit is yellow-fleshed with considerable red colouring around the pit. While many varieties have better colour than cresthaven, its flavour is one of the best. Good for canning and freezing.
Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.