photo by: Mike Yoder

From left are a winter melon, jujubes, luffa squash, Asian pears and Chinese long beans, all grown at Gene Peng's orchard southwest of Lawrence.

It’s a busy season at Jujube Orchard, where Gene Peng toils from sunup to sundown nurturing Asian pears, jujube fruit and chestnut trees, as well as a variety of Asian vegetables.

Peng’s orchard, southwest of Lawrence at 1006 North 1116 Road, sells produce by appointment. Those interested should call 785-760-0733. People can pick the fruit themselves or Peng will help them. The Asian pears sell for $2 a pound.

This summer’s abundant rain has left the jujube trees heavy with the small fruit in shades ranging from pale green to ruby red.

“The jujube is a very unique fruit, and it’s sacred in some places,” said Lucy White, who gave a tour of her brother’s orchard on a recent morning. “Some call it the Asian date. It’s very popular in Japan.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

Lucy White, sister of Gene Peng, harvests some Chinese long beans from her brother’s jujube orchard in Lawrence, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

Native to Southern Asia, the crisp tasting fruit has become popular in the U.S. on the West Coast, White said.

Nearby, Asian pear trees bore round fruit about the size of apples.

“The Asian pears are crisp and sweet like an apple,” said White, who prefers the taste to that of softer European pears.

Peng began the orchard in 2002 on eight acres; it has now grown to 400 trees. There are several fig trees, full of not quite ripe fruit. He also has several garden plots with a variety of Asian vegetables, including a winter melon, also known as ash gourd, and long green beans. Plus, there are plenty of Chinese luffas, which look like a type of squash with ridges on the skin. Left to mature, White said, they can be harvested as natural luffa sponges.

“We want to share all this with the community,” White said.

Family history

White calls herself the pioneer of the family because she emigrated first to the U.S. from Taiwan in 1972. She was a Chinese instructor at Wichita’s McConnell Air Force Base. Later, she became a media specialist in the Piper School District. By then her family had followed her to the U.S.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Gene Peng, owner of a Lawrence orchard, carries an armful of Asian pears at the orchard, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. Peng grows pears, jujubes, an assortment of Asian vegetables and some chestnuts.

For a number of years, White, Peng and brother Joe Peng operated the Plum Tree restaurant in Lawrence, which later combined with Panda Garden in 2008.

“It was a family business,” White said. “Gene was the kitchen manager and excellent chef.”

They sold the business in 2015 so that White could focus on caring for her aging parents. At 96, her father, Shao Peng, eats two to three Asian pears a day, she said.

White’s other brother, Joe, also grows and sells produce.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Asian pear trees at Gene Peng’s orchard southwest of Lawrence are so full that he added some rope support for weighed down branches, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

About two miles southeast of Haskell Avenue and the Kansas Highway 10 bypass, Joe operates the Red Barn and Orchard at 1150 East 1550 Road. People can buy his Asian pears by calling 785-760-1247.

“My brothers have such passion to keep growing Chinese fruits and vegetables,” White said. “And I’m learning so much from them.”

Their enthusiasm has rubbed off on her. She has five Asian pear trees in her Lawrence front yard — all full of fruit courtesy of this year’s wet summer.

photo by: Mike Yoder

An Asian pear is pictured Monday, Sept. 9, 2019, at Gene Peng’s orchard southwest of Lawrence.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A tree full of jujubes is pictured at Gene Peng’s orchard southwest of Lawrence, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Gene Peng, owner of a jujube orchard southwest of Lawrence, slices a piece of Asian pear as he is watched by his sister Lucy White, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Gene Peng, owner of a Lawrence jujube orchard, works around an Asian pear tree Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. The orchard will be open weekends by appointment for you-pick sales.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A luffa squash is pictured on the vine at Gene Peng’s jujube orchard in Lawrence, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Lucy White carries a luffa squash just harvested at her brother Gene Peng’s jujube orchard southwest of Lawrence, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Lucy White, sister of Gene Peng, harvests some Chinese long beans from her brother’s jujube orchard in Lawrence, Monday, Sept. 9, 2019.