What happened when pear super-fan Kyle Hagerty was introduced to California pear farmer Topher Chan?
Find out in the newest installment in the “Farm2Fan” video series which promotes California-grown farm products.
We already know Topher Chan since he’s one of the local pear farmers you can meet on our website. But we wanted to know more about Kyle Hagerty and why he’s such a fan of pears.
What we learned was that the folks executing this campaign at Time, Inc. – one of the world’s largest news organizations – set out to identify the biggest fans of California farm products they could find. When it comes to California pears, Kyle – a self-proclaimed lifelong fan —was a clear choice.
Kyle runs an urban farm stand in Sacramento which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. The farm stand is located at 1058 56th Street in the heart of East Sacramento and is aptly named East Sac Farms. It’s a place where the surrounding community can come together and rejoice in the bounty of fresh organic produce. You can learn more about Kyle and his farm stand here.
Kyle’s passion for California pears began when he was a little boy eating fruit from the pear tree in his family’s San Mateo garden. He even recalled his first Christmas memory was asking Santa for a fruit basket! Kyle currently has a multi-grafted pear tree growing in the depths of his urban garden that will start producing six different varieties of pears next summer.
The diversity and unique flavor is what Kyle appreciates most about pears. They are soft, sweet, and juicy and can be used cohesively in many recipes. On Kyle’s visit to Chan Farms in Courtland, CA he created a pear-inspired salad, featured in the California Grown video. You can find Kyle’s recipe here. Some of his other favorite pear dishes to prepare are Pork Chops with Grilled Pears and Vanilla Ice Cream with Grilled Pears. Savory or sweet, pears go well with just about anything!
Even with the bounty of summer in his own backyard, Kyle thinks that California pears are the perfect summer fruit, which also transition well into fall and winter dishes.
While East Sac Farms isn’t producing California pears (yet!), this pear-adise is a community gem that will (hopefully) continue to grow in the years to come.
