Last week I went persimmon picking with my friend Basanthi and my daughter Rani to a persimmon farm right here in the middle of Silicon Valley.
I only know about this farm because for years my friend Basanthi has been dropping off the most luscious, crunchy, sweet giant Fuyu persimmons from this farm.
Seriously, when I say this farm is smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, it really is! This persimmon farm has been here long before Silicon Valley got formed and tech companies started building all around the farm. Today it is the only farm in the middle of hundreds of tech companies right off Hwy 880 and Montague Expwy – which is a funny sight to see!
Basanthi knows about this local gem as she used to work in one of the tech firms near the farm. It seems the persimmon farm has been there for decades and has been a fixture for all the tech workers to stop by on their way home to pick up not just persimmons in the fall, but farm fresh veggies and fruits all year round. Tech workers have been coming to the persimmon farm for so long that the farmstand cashiers know a lot of them by name.
Like anything taken for granted, I never bothered to stop by the farm as I was getting my supply of delicious fruit from Basanthi on a regular basis. But the day came this year when Basanthi informed me all upset that the persimmon farm got sold to a developer who is planning on building a condo complex in that spot and basically bull-doze all those gorgeous persimmon trees. So this year I asked Basanthi if I could tag-along the next time she went to pick up persimmons.
The story of the owners.
Basanthi has been stopping by this farm for twenty years and basically can write the owners life story. A Japanese couple brought persimmon seedlings all the way from Japan and planted them here, managed, and worked the land themselves for over 40 years until the day came when they couldn’t manage it on their own. They passed the baton on to a younger couple to work the land, live in the guesthouse on the property, manage the farm, and keep any proceeds from the fruit they sell. For years they got offers to purchase their land but they always turned them down. But now that the younger couple are themselves older and their children have moved on to work at the tech companies in the area, there isn’t anyone else to pass the farm onto and manage, so the owners who are now in their 90s finally sold their persimmon farm to a property developer this year.
A persimmon farm like no other.
On the day that we stopped by, the trees were dripping with thousands of persimmons!
Fresh-picked persimmons being dropped off for the customers.
Took a picture with the sweet lady at the farm-stand.
Walked around the farm exploring what end-of-season crops were still growing and discovered large patches of raspberry bushes.
Picked one or two raspberries to taste which were the sweest berries ever!
I bought over 100 persimmons on this day!
Mailed about 25 persimmons to my sister in Philadelphia. Gave over 50 persimmons to all of my twin’s teachers for Thanksgiving. Who knew such a humble gesture of farm-fresh persimmons would make teachers so happy? We got so many emails thanking us for the delicious persimmons. One teacher even took her bowl of persimmons to the East Coast! She said her whole family cut them and added them to their Thanksgiving fruit salad and they absolutely loved it!
Kept a bunch of persimmons for us to enjoy. Used them as gorgeos Thanskgiving decor as well.
Farm-fresh persimmons from a farm smack in the middle of Silicon Valley? Now that is definitely a novel experience. We only have one more year to enjoy these luscious persimmons as we found out the farm will be cleared out for condos at the end of 2019. Persimmon farm in Silicon Valley is definitely an off-the-beaten path farmer’s market experience.
The farm is right opposite Cadence Design Systems on 2620 Seely Ave, San Jose. They are open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12-6. They are closed on Tuesdays.
Tsukuda Farm Stand
2620 Seely Ave.
San Jose, CA 95109
Please let me know the name of the persimmons farm in Silicon Valley and the address. Hope to hear from you soon
Thank you
It’s called Tsukuda Fruit Stand. 2620 Seely Ave. North San Jose. https://www.yelp.com/biz/tsukuda-fruit-stand-san-jose?osq=persimmon+picking
Already open for persimmon picking??
yes they are open
To us natives, it is still the Santa Clara Valley.
😃 true true!
Love the picture
Which day and what time we can visit your farm
Also what’s the price to pick the fruit
Thanks
The farm is open Monday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday from 12-6. They are closed on Tuessdays. They are on Sealy Ave off of montague Ave.
This is a memorable post Kalpana! Very thoughtful of you. Now we will remember this farm/orchard forever!
Very nice pictures! Mia will be happy to see the post.
Thanks.
Thank you Basanthi for taking me to this special farm and for all the times you have been dropping of fruit over the years! You are the best! 😘❤️ Yes, please show this post to Mia!!
A tasty post! I’m sorry to hear the farm will be cleared next year – that’s ‘progress’.
Yes, this is the price of progress – I wish developers would learn to build in harmony with nature rather than through it.
Very very nice descriptive presentation! I’m not familiar wtih this fruit and might rarely have tasted them, we enjoyed what you sent to Banu and also served as dessert when Uma/Chary vvisited us on Sunday(Dec 2). Today morning(Tuesday), I injured a fingure cutting the very hard crown of the fruit! Hard crown outside, sweet fruit inside strange creation to be admired.
Thanks Dad. Yes, it seems persimmons are only available on the West Coast as many people on the East Coast and Texas are not familiear with this fruit. Dad, be careful when cutting Persimmons! You dont cut it like an apple, you cut the tough cap off first and then cut it. Banu said all of you finished all the persimmons I sent! They went fast! I will go and pick up some more!
Hi, this is such a lovely post, I was wondering if you could post it on Nextdoor because there are so many people asking where to pick persimmons 😊
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you! I took your suggestion and posted it on Nextdoor. I hope people find the information helpful. Thank you again for your lovely comment 😊
What a fun experience!! Persimmons are so pretty (and tasty!) I didn’t even know this was possible here. definitely keeping this in mind! Have a great week, Kalpana 🙂
I know! Persimmons are so gorgeous to look at and taste great too especially the crunchy Fuyu variety! Definitely stop by the farm Mackenzie, its such a humble establishment. Have a great week Macjenzie 😘