Sweet History
Twin Peaks grows heirlooms time almost forgot
By Gabrielle Myers
June 2026
At Twin Peaks Orchards in Newcastle, Camelia Enriquez and her husband Justin grow delectable heirloom fruits and vegetables, including the rare amagaki persimmon and a nearly extinct summer favorite, Royal Blenheim apricots.
Enriquez is the fourth generation to care for this land. Her grandfather, Howard Nakae, began Twin Peaks on his parents’ property in 1912. The family’s love of the land and attention to the foothill ecosystems let them cultivate historic California varieties.
In 2020, a fire ripped through the property and destroyed 98% of the infrastructure. Enriquez’s parents were devastated. They couldn’t bring themselves to rebuild.
“It was like watching a big, huge part of their history just get obliterated,” Enriquez says. She and her husband used their savings to buy out her parents and set them up in retirement on the property. The younger couple took over managing Twin Peaks.
After the fire, Enriquez and her husband started fresh. They modernized with an eye toward efficiency and fully organic practices. Raised on the farm, Enriquez absorbed a lot of knowledge from her parents.
Rebuilding and reinventing the orchards was hard, but Twin Peaks emerged more resilient. “From disaster comes success,” Enriquez says.
Enriquez and her team practice 100% organic and regenerative agriculture. This approach emphasizes soil health and vitality, which creates healthy trees to withstand weather and pest challenges. Peas and other legumes act as cover and fix nitrogen, which boosts soil resilience.
Twin Peaks is certified organic, a “Slow Food” farm. The Slow Food distinction shows the grower’s commitment to ecologically, culturally and socially responsible practices.
“The Slow Food ethos has always been the way I’ve thought about approaching, enjoying and growing food, so it was a natural marriage,” Enriquez says.
Twin Peaks has grown the amagaki persimmon for more than 100 years. The persimmon is exclusive to the orchard “because my grandfather developed it,” Enriquez says.
The persimmon arrives at top local restaurants as the weather cools. It’s called the “peach of winter.”
Amagakis fill the role tomatoes play in summer and grace dishes such as pizzas, caprese, salads and cheese boards. With a creamy cinnamon, carrot and warm spice flavor, chefs create countless savory applications.
Twin Peaks is one of the few orchards to grow my favorite apricot, the Royal Blenheim. The apricot tantalizes with a complex balance of sweetness and acidity, symbolizing early summer’s bounty.
In my search for orchardists who still offer Royal Blenheims, I learned Enriquez and her team preserved their cultivation through organic and regenerative practices.
“Apricots need very specific weather conditions,” Enriquez says. “They’re high maintenance, and with all of the factors that we have going on now with different pests and drastic temperature swings, this affects our growing of heirloom varietals. Blenheim is not a commercial apricot as we can’t grow and ship it.
“The fruit falls off the tree, we take it to the farmers market and sell it, and our customers eat it.”
Stone fruit and other orchard fruits are vulnerable to temperature swings. To diversify their products, Twin Peaks has 6 acres of dedicated row crops.
Enriquez started growing specialty crops for wholesaler Produce Express and local restaurants. Twin Peaks produces mixed heirloom squash and melon varieties, okra, eggplant, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and other brassicas.
Find Twin Peaks products at local restaurants and the Sunday Sacramento farmers market. Visit Twin Peaks during the growing season Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for jams, preserves, honey, pickles and produce. For information, visit twinpeaksorchards.net.
Gabrielle Myers can be reached at gabriellemyers11@gmail.com. Her latest book of poetry, “Go Forth: Lose Yourself into Life,” is available at finishinglinepress.com. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
