1. Fresh California apricots are generally available May through early July.
2. To select the best fresh apricots, look for plump, fairly firm fruit with an orange-yellow to orange color. Avoid green apricots which will not ripen.
3. Convenient and versatile, canned apricots are a quick and healthy addition to cottage cheese, ice cream, desserts, salads and smoothies.
4. Apricots can be used in many recipes that call for peaches or nectarines such as tarts, cobblers, cakes or chutneys.
5. Canned apricots can be puréed in a blender to be used as a fat substitute in recipes calling for oil.
6. Nutritious California dried apricots are characteristically dried in halves, are dark orange in color and have an intensely sweet and tart flavor.
7. The kernels of an apricot pit are used in confections and to flavor liqueurs. Like bitter almonds, apricot kernels are poisonous until roasted.

Early Apricot History

1. Apricots were first discovered growing wild on the mountain slopes of China.
2. Spanish explorers are credited with introducing apricots to California where they were planted in the gardens of Spanish missions.
3. The Latin name for apricot is praecoquum, meaning early matured (fruit).
4. See California Apricot History for more information.

Apricot Industry

1. California produces a remarkable 95% of all apricots grown in the United States.
2. There are over 300 growers producing apricots from orchards covering 17,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley with the leading production area being Stanislaus County.
3. A consistent producer, the Patterson variety accounts for 75% of all California apricots.
4. The harvest period typically begins in May and ends in early July.
5. In 2001, California harvested 69,000 tons of apricots.