Documented by Destiny Crider on July 1, 2000, Apple Valley, California.
On a summer vacation to see my grandparents, I was witness to the process of drying fresh apricots.
We did it right in the back yard, and the apricots tasted better than any
I have ever gotten from an expensive bag at the grocery store.
There are at least six generations that have learned the skills of apricot drying in California.
The first generation to begin the apricot ranch was Eugene and Sarah Denny Sullivan. Eugene Sullivan was born in Cork County Ireland in 1833, and came to America with his family in 1834. They lived in New York City where Eugene's father ran a general store. Eugene went to work for the New York and Erie Railway at the age of twelve. This was his means for moving west. He married Sarah Denny in 1860 and they settled in Iowa.
In 1905, the ranch was inherited by their daughter, Kate Cornelia Sullivan. Kate had married Volney Frank "V.F." Wilson.
They built a second ranch house in 1905 and they sold the first house for a team of horses. The old ranch house was moved to Belleview Avenue in Cottage Grove on the south end of San Jose. As of 1984 the house was still in use. Kate Wilson ran the ranch on her own from 1910 to 1935 while her husband was homesteading in Oakley, California. As a side story, V.F. Wilson purchased one of the first automobiles in San Jose. It was called 'Sunset' and the car arrived in a box by train, and he had to put it together himself.
The Wilma Kathryn, the daughter of Kate and V.F. Wilson was born in the old ranch house in 1905, but grew up in the second ranch house. Wilma married Harold B. Clark in 1928. She inherited the ranch in 1935 when her mother died. She and her husband moved to the ranch in 1938.
Harold Leslie Clark, the eldest child of Wilma and Harold B. Clark, was born in 1929. He lived on the farm with his parents from 1938 to 1949, until he enlisted in the airforce. While living on the ranch, Harold assisted with the farm duties, inlcuding all of the steps in the processing of dried apricots.
While in the airforce Harold Leslie married Carolyn Cobb. The family ranch was sold by Wilma Kathryn in 1970 when she and her husband moved to San Jose. The ranch house is no longer standing. The ranch lands are now in the city limits of San Jose, and contains a strip mall, a trailer park, and a sizable Asian community. Apricots are no longer grown on the land. The remainder of this document presents the process of drying apricots that was used when the apricot ranch was in full production. The photos depict Harold Leslie Clark teaching his daughter, Judy and his grandchildren Emily Miller, Brandon Masur and Destiny Crider (not pictured) the steps to making dried apricots. Although the family orchards no longer remain, the family tradition of drying fruit will persist, at least through this generation.
When Harold worked on the ranch, everyone would sit in the cutting shed during the drying season and cut all day while chatting with one another.
They had three children, each born in a different country thanks to the airforce.
Apricot Trees
Once fruit appears, cover with netting.
A big problem is the squirrels, which rip apart the fruit to get to the pits.
This way, says Harold, the squirrels can choose their own fate, jump in the live trap and lead a productive life, or choose the rat trap to commit suicide, either way, he is giving them a chance to live.
Pick the fruit when it is ripe, but not too mushy, this makes cutting difficult.
Six pounds of fresh fruit equals about one pound of dried fruit.
Drying Stand
Build a stand about waist high and place a large screen or wooden slats across frame.
This is where the fruit processing occurs.
In this case, two old screens doors are used to hold the fruit, one as the base and the other as the cover.
You will also need some extra boards or bricks and a large tarp long enough to cover the fruit stand and lay on the floor. Cutting Fruit
Cut the fruit long ways along the seam of the pit. There is a crease across top of fruit, start knife along that crease.
Throw pits away.
At that time workers were paid by the box of cut fruit, about ten cents a box.
Lay the fruit in rows, face up on the screen.
Smoking Fruit
Place a long board across the center of the door screen. Place it high enough so it does not touch the fruit.
Cover entire stand with tarp, make sure the tarp completely encases the stand and lays on the floor.
Use the extra boards or bricks to weight the edges of the tarp to the floor so that air does not enter the tarp.
Fill a small pan with burning sulfur, do not use the soil sulfur used for gardening, it will harm the fruit.
When drying fruit on a larger scale, use a shovel full of sulfur for about twenty drying racks.
Use a small torch to start the sulfur burning.
Begin the burning in the center of the pan. The sulfur will turn a reddish orange color.
Do not over use the torch, only light it until the sulfur begins to smoke.
Let the sulfur smoke for about four hours.
The sulfur prevents the fruit from turning brown and helps to extract the sugar out of the fruit and improved the flavor.
Drying Fruit
Once sulfur has finished burning, remove the tarp and place the drying rack in the sun.
Cover the drying screen with a second screen to keep birds away.
Leave outside in sun covered for about two days (prevent rain), or until the fruit reaches the desired amount of dryness.
Some of the Clark grandkids like them moist, others like them chewy and very dry.
Scrape the fruit off of the screen of tray with fingers every day to loosen fruit.Bag Fruit
Put dried fruit in bags and serve.
No matter how many you make, it is never enough for everyone.
When the fruit is commercially sold, the businesses would water the fruit down after drying and in order to "rehydrate" the fruit and to increase the price when sold by the pound.