Yolo Fruit Stand is located at western end of the Yolo Bypass along I-80. Going from Sacramento to Davis, you have to exit Frontage road, then go under the freeway and there it is. They always carry very cheap produce from nearby local farms. It is here when you can sometimes get corn for 20 pcs to $1, satsumas for $2 per 10-lb bag, and cherries going as low as $0.49/lb, and kiwis for just $1 per 10 pcs, and also big luscious honey dew lemon for 2pcs for $1. At times they also sell Oro Blancos for $0.10 each! But emphasized the times, as it is not always like that. But still, they are cheaper than the grocery stores, all the time when it comes to fresh produce.
The price of pomegranate went down to $0.89/lb, from $1.69/lb earlier in the week. My wife shopped there last Wednesday and called me, so I told her to get me 60 lbs of fruit and that she did. The whole morning of Thanksgiving, I learned to shuck the arils from those pomegranates, and had a bucketful (5 gallons) of arils which I then crushed using the blender. It is now treated with pectic enzyme, balanced with some acid, and hopefully will add just a little bit of sugar tonight to attain 1.098 specific gravity. Will then pitch in my prepared culture of D47 yeast. In other words, I've got a batch of pomegranate wine started.
I finally found a quick way of opening up and shucking arils out of the pomegranates with minimal white stuff in them. It used to take me 10 minutes to shuck an entire pomegranate, now it takes me only 2 and a half minutes. Practice makes it faster.
The pomegranate from Yolo Fruit Stand seemed to be a mixture of Parfianka and other types, but it doesn't seem to be the Wonderful pomegranates. That's just my guess. The fruits are on the over-ripe side, and out of the 60 lbs, three pieces have brown rotten arils inside.
In cases like this, it is important to visually inspect the fruits after you open them up, otherwise your wine would be ruined. I'm too tired to make another batch.
