Frog Hollow Farm

I ordered the apricot and peaches in June of 2015 (a couple of weeks ago). I tried to track it via the tracking that was emailed to me. The UPS tracking said however that my order was cancelled. I called called a few times and finally decided to be on hold LONG TIME. Then I was automatically transferred to a mans voice mail saying to leave a message. The next day, a lady left a message saying that she noticed a few missed calls from my phone. I wanted to see why my order was cancelled. If it was my credit card (which I knew wasn’t) I was miffed that no one called me about it and my order was just cancelled. I figured if this is how the company worked, it is just as well that I didn’t have to spend my money here.
Then two days later I found my package in the sun in my driveway. Apparently my order wasn’t cancelled like the UPS tracking said. I wasn’t even told that a new tracking number was available so I could look out for the fruits.
Fruits: The apricots was great. The peaches were still too crunchy so I left them in the box. Two days later I open the box to find that 3 of the peaches had big moldy blue patches on them. Needless to say, I was disgusted that I paid $ 5 for each peach and 3 was rotted to the point of no salvage.
I also bought a 8 piece macaroon. 8 small cookies in a 3″ x 3″ pack came in the same heavy duty inner box as the one containing 6 peaches… an OVERKILL in packaging and stuffing.
A week and a half later I got an email asking for a review of my purchase.
To add insult to injury I was not able to give less than 5 stars as there was no way to check off the 1 — 4 stars that was there but the 5 stars was checked for you (how convenient) that you could not change despite numerous tries.
I find that a company that engages in such low standards of customer appreciation is suspect in their general practices as well. I will certainly not buy from them again no matter how cute their marketing or description of their wonderful fruits are. They seem to be on par with any farmers market fruits if you ask me. I have also visited their store at the ferry building prior to buying from them online.
I wrote this review on Unilocal AFTER I wrote to them on getting my request for a review but have not heard from ANYONE in the company. Obviously they only want orders and cannot be bothered with customer service.

Yes, the prices if you ship are outrageous. But as someone lucky enough to have Frog Hollow at my local farmer’s market, the prices are far more reasonable. No, it’s not going to be Ralphs prices, but I have never regretted paying more when the quality matches the price. And this is not just them living off their name… the quality is noticeably and absolutely the best. The weekend when the apricots make it to the farmer’s market is my favorite day of the year – this year I ended up sitting on a bench at the farmer’s market and eating 10 lbs. of apricots in one sitting (No, I didn’t get sick, don’t be vulgar). Their fruit is generally great, but their stone fruits are MAGIC!!!

Love this farm! The asian pear I had was so juicy. Also the avocado toast sounds good, I’ll try more the next time I go to San Francisco. This place is kind of in an odd spot in The Ferry Building. I also had the smoothie and it had date paste in it. I won’t be in San Francisco again for a little while .(

I’ve been buying and enjoying Frog Hollow Farms fruits and conserves for many years now. I first found them at the Livermore Farmer’s Market and now I get my fix at the Saturday Market at the Ferry Building.
I know a lot of people think we are nuts for paying what we pay for this fruit… but then they taste it. And just like my husband and I they are changed forever!
Their dried fruit is the best ever. The conserves are magnificent and no other jam will suffice. And the fresh fruit? Tonguegasmic!

at $ 5 per piece of fruit (no joke) in my first shipment, I really don’t care if it’s a good orange or apple – it’s ridiculously overpriced.

I had the best peach (Suncrest), sooooo sweet, melt-​in-​the-​mouth soft, with juice dripping as you bite into the fruit. The cherry conserve was amazing, with chunks of whole fruit, intensely flavorful, had it with Beurre d’Isygne from France and real good baguette from Surfas. Heavenly!

Frog Hollow supplies the French Laundry with excellent peaches. Now I’ve had them in the dishes several times, but recently as I was waling to TFL via the back streets, we ran into the Frog Hollow Farm delivery guys. They were unloading the fruit from the back of the truck and we chatted them up a bit. They were so nice and they gave us a bunch of peaches before we went in for our meal. I even got two «long bombs» from one of the guys as he threw some peach Hail Marys to me down the street as I went long. How cool is that? Of course the peaches were super tasty and we had a bunch of them that we brought into the restaurant. That’s not weird or anything. :)

The BEST fruit on the planet… period…
If you haven’t tried their Flavor King Pluots, you haven’t lived!!!
Shipping is pricey, but oh so worth it!!!

At $ 4 plus per pound Frog Hollow’s peaches are among the priciest peaches out there, but for my hard-​earned dollars this is the peach that I prefer most for its amazing flavor, sweetness, juice content and balanced acidity. Dare I say these are the most perfect peaches I’ve ever had.
Frog Hollow Farm is not open to the public (
), so when the opportunity to visit the actual farm came up I jumped on it. Twice in fact in 2011 and again this past weekend in 2012. Now comes the task of formulating a review covering two very different farm tours at the exact same farm.
Farmer Al Courchesne is co-​owner of the 143 acre farm now in its 37^th year. Farmer Al didn’t grow up on a farm though. He was born in Berkeley, grew up in El Cerrito, graduated at Cal (Yay!!) and relocated to Hawaii to take a teaching position for 10 years. He didn’t strike an interest in farming until he was 30 while still in Hawaii. Two years later he found himself back in the Bay Area on a 13 acre parcel of land he had purchased in Brentwood where he planted his first peach orchard with the goal of creating the best peaches available. It was 13 years later that Al decided to alter his farming practice by going organic and renaming his farm Frog Hollow Farm. Now he’s one of the most respected farmers around. For both tours he greeted us in front of the main building which currently houses their office, their commercial kitchen and an old packing assembly where he offered an introduction to his farm and their products.
Anybody who gardens or in this case farms will tell you the importance of bees in the ecosystem. In agriculture pollination is essential for the healthy reproduction of plants, and there is no greater pollinator than the bee. With that in mind a native bee garden was added into the farm in 2011. Consisting mostly of native, local plants the garden is thriving now and the bees seem to be quite happy. The garden is part of a 10 year study on bees by a Cal researcher who regularly collects and monitors the bees, but Al was quite honest in telling us he just likes the bees there because they help to pollinate his farm.
On both occasions we did a walking tour of the farm, and Al has talked to us about soil conditioning, composting, irrigation, pest management, tree life and about local land issues that have effected his farm. This past weekend he even shared secrets on what makes their fruit-​filled peanut butter cookies so dang good! In addition to his award winning peaches, rumored by Al himself last year to be a favorite of our current President, we’ve stopped to talk about the quince, the pomegranates, the olives and the citrus. We got to see the dry farming area where overripe peaches and pluots are split and pitted to dry under the hot Brentwood sun then sold as preservative-​free dried fruits.
Our tour of a year ago included lunch as well. We met Al’s wife Becky who runs the commercial kitchen on the farm, and she wowed us with fresh sweet corn, heirloom tomatoes drizzled with Frog Hollow Farm’s very own unfiltered olive oil, freshly baked empanadas and a fresh green salad which incorporated some delicious stone fruit. I haven’t included links, but all of those lunch items plus many other photos have been posted in the photo section.
We concluded our 2011 tour with a round table discussion on the Slow Money movement, a movement to organize investors and donors to steer new sources of capital to small food enterprises, organic farms, and local food systems. Al shared with us some of his ideas in relation to his farm then reviewed a display of his products that his 2 young daughters had set up. He sold many of his products to us at substantial savings over the farmers market prices and even sold us full cases of 2 of his peach varieties and his heirloom tomatoes, something he rarely sells at the farmers markets.
Bay Area Green Tours was the source of my original tour. Of the two tours I’ve taken part in this was the better of the two, but then again I paid 4 times the fee that I paid to CUESA who organized the most recent tour. In this case I definitely got what I paid for. Sadly though, Bay Area Green Tours no longer offers public farm tours.
Frog Hollow Farm operates a café at the San Francisco Ferry Building where you can find a variety of their products and fresh baked pastries. They also participate at farmers markets in North & South Berkeley, San Francisco’s Castro, Danville, Kensington and Santa Cruz. I often stop by to chat with Farmer Al and purchase some incredible fruit at the Saturday San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market run by CUESA. Be sure to check their website for updated information on this.

Holy crappers. BEST PEACHES EVER. I’m not even exaggerating. Amidst all the mediocre, either hard or mushy, tasteless, odorless peaches in the supermarkets, Frog Hollow Farm’s are perfumy, sweet balanced with a bit of acidity, juicy, and brightly colored. If only I could remember the specific varietal of the darn thing… flavor king? Not sure.
Yes, it’s expensive at $ 4+ per pound, but it’s really worth it. You only live once. Do you really want to be on your deathbed and say «I never had good peaches.»
No, you dont.

Toni M, I’m right behind you!
Frog Hollow Farms deserves the highest accolades!
You, Toni, deserve an ROTD for putting FH Farm on the Unilocal map!
As usual, I bought the farm today. At El Cerrito Natural Food just down the block from my house.
On this occasion, I bought Frog Hollow’s Plum and Blueberry jam. Last week I bought two jars, the organic cherry conserve, and my personal favorite, the organic peach chutney. (Spicy is the name of the game for this latter concoction… and a little spice does a body good, IMHO.)
You really should know why I’m such a Frog Hollow fan…
You will presume that it is because I’m fond of a delectible handcrafted jam.
Or that I’m a fan because I hate to cook and a nice chutney covers a multitude of culinary indiscretions. Burnt omelet being an example.
In both cases, you would be close to the truth. But listen up… here’s the real reason that I enjoy Frog Hollow Farm’s jams and jellies…
The yummy stuff reminds me of basketball courts. Pep bands. Cheerleaders jumping about of an evening at the El Cerrito HIgh School gym.
In other words, Al Courchesne.
Yep, El Cerrito High School’s star basketball player (circa 1960) went on to create Frog Hollow Farm in Brentwood, CA.
Where he and his wife have lived happily ever after. I would guess.
When I purchase a jar of FHF’s preserves, I remember the halcyon days of youth.
Clean air, clean water.
Sunlight warming the outdoor basketball courts on a winter’s day.
Scurrying down to the gym before an evening game, heading for the best seats in the bleachers.
With parental permission.
Screaming (and I do mean screaming) when a basketball curled effortlessly into the home team basketball hoop.
Celebrating yet another Gaucho victory.
For a buck or two.
Good stuff, these jams and jellies. Trust me on this, still a couple of bucks to live the dream. Apricot. Cherry. Blackberry. Or… Peach chutney.
If you don’t believe me, go ask Alice.
Chez Panisse is just down the road, you know.
Probably can order Frog Hollow preserves from the restaurant’s menu too.

Though I doubt if Alice has ever burned her omelets.

This past weekend, I attended the Peaches and Tango event at Frog Hollow Farms, which was a beautiful dinner prepared by Top Chef All-​Star winner Richard Blais. As a big fan of the Bravo hit TV series, I often wondered what it would be like to taste one of this renowned chef’s concoctions, so obviously, as soon as I saw a deal for this event on Facebook, I purchased four tickets.
Let me get straight to the point. The meal was amazing; many of the courses were among the best food I’ve encountered in my 26 years. I was told the chef changes for this event each year, so I won’t get into the details of the menu as I think that is of little use for future diners. However, I will say that all the food focuses on organic ingredients grown by local farmers, which I find incredibly appealing.
The wine from Bloomfield Vineyards was also fantastic, as were the gift bags, which I’d estimate to be worth about $ 100. I felt like a GRAMMY Awards attendee when I opened it!
My only gripe is this:
I purchased tickets via a Facebook Deal put on by Gilt City, where there was quite a bit of confusion from potential ticket buyers, and no one was responding to the growing number of inquiries. I decided to call Frog Hollow, as some of the questions being asked were also my own. I spoke with the Director of Sales & Marketing, who was quite pleasant, but completely unknowledgeable about Facebook. After I helped him find the deal and event pages, he thanked me, then said my party of four could come early on the day of the event to go on a VIP farm tour. This lovely gesture was quashed when I followed up to ask when we should arrive, and he completely ignored my emails and phone call. I never asked for special treatment, but since it was offered, he should have followed through, or at least taken a moment to let me know my group could no longer be accommodated! Having to go back and tell my parents and boyfriend that we wouldn’t be going on the tour after all was both embarrassing and disappointing.

We encountered these folks at the North Berkeley Farmers Market Thursday. We bought 3 jars of conserves, two for Alan and one for me, a Meyer lemon marmalade that will be splendid on crumpets. But the 5 stars are for their sweet risotto/​currant tart. I had it for dessert last night it it was perfection, a star shaped puff pastry w/​turbinado sugar lightly sprinkled on the outside. The filling was slightly sweet. I had thought the dark spots in it were raisins, w/​which I have a very ambivalent relationship, so I requested the one w/​the least visible dark spots, but they were currants, which I love. It was a lovely dessert and you can be sure I will buy another the next time I see them at the farmers market.