Saturday, June 28, 2014

Fruits of Summer

It's peach time, so yesterday I bought a basket full of locally-grown beauties. In my opinion, there's nothing better than a beautiful and luscious peach at its prime. It's best when it's juice runs down your chin as you bite into it.


This basket of 18 peaches was $12. I have no idea if that's comparable to what peaches sell for in your area.
These are not quite ready to eat, as they are still firm. They are perfect to the eye; not a blemish or mark to be seen (but I do wonder what chemicals were used to achieve this result!). The man selling the peaches told me they could more quickly be ripened by placing them in the sun for a couple of hours. I will try that today for the ones to be eaten today; I'll place a few in a brown bag on the counter for tomorrow's eating and store the rest in the refrigerator, where they'll slowly ripen over the next few days.

Another summer favorite is cantaloupe. They also were available as a whole fruit but I decided to buy it pre-cut, as I don't need much. I'm the only one in the house who's a cantaloupe fan.


Mangos are one of my new-found favorites. They are usually reasonably priced at about $1 each. We used to never see mangos for sale in our stores, but due to the increasing Hispanic population in our area, they are everywhere now. Mangos are quite popular on the Hispanic menu, I think.

It's a bit tricky removing the large pit from mangos. I believe there's a gadget that does the job, but I just cut off as much as I can and gnaw off the remainder! Makes me feel like a kid again!

Speaking of the fruits of summer, I am happy to report that for the first time my four blueberry bushes are yielding more than just a sporadic berry or two.


No, there won't be tons of berries, but quite enough to flavor my morning yogurt, eat out-of-hand during the day, and perhaps make a pie. No blueberry jam making for me, however.

And the grapes! The vine had simply sat and done nothing for a few years, but this year it's full of fruit. They are still several weeks away from ripening.


These are some of my favorite fruits. I try to eat fruit each day, as we all know it's so good for us. I recently read that people who suffer from joint pain/arthritis should eat pineapple, which can "cure" the problem. Sounds too good to be true, actually. I need to further research that because if it's helpful, I'm going to add pineapple to my daily fruit eating ritual.

What are your favorites?

13 comments:

  1. Boy do I envy you those fresh peaches! I've never found one here in England that didn't taste like cardboard. I stick to tinned peaches these days. And the melons! They never get that really sweet soft ripeness here and I won't even tell you about what Brits call 'large'; you'd just laugh. So I just have to content myself with apples, which grow well here, and the free blackberries and elderberries which make luscious jam. Raspberries and blueberries grow well here, too, but they are still too expensive for me to buy fresh. I have a few raspberry canes in the back garden and am planning to get more for next summer.

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    1. Does the fresh fruit in England come from Israel? Perhaps they are picked too early because of the long transit time from field to market. I don't blame you for choosing the tins. I happen to like the canned version quite a bit when the local peaches aren't in season.

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  2. Pretty peaches. Hard to find really good ones in our stores. I like peaches only if they are peeled, can't stand the "fuzzy" part. Mango's find their way to our table frequently. Have you seen/tried the Philippine mango? It is much smaller and a golden yellow color. They are my favorite as they have a smaller seed and the fruit part is less tough/stringy. I like them all though. Fresh fruits are such a summer pleasure.

    Darla

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    1. I don't care for the fuzz either, Darla. However, most of it can be scrubbed off in the washing and then I'll eat peaches unpeeled. No, haven't seen Philippine mangos here. I think you get a larger choice of some fresh produce there in California.

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  3. Beautiful peaches and they were delicious! SO excited about your blueberries and grapes. The blueberry bush is a beautiful plant as well as furnishing you fresh picked berries. Can't wait to try mine..thanks. A great post of wonderful fresh fruits that we are so lucky to be able to purchase and so good for us to eat. Beautiful pictures!

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    1. I am fairly surprised myself at how many berries I have on the blueberry bushes this year. The great thing is that they freeze well in case I have more than we can eat.

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  4. Delicious and beautiful summer fruits, Sanda. How I would love such a basket of peaches for $12!! Here I would get 3 or 4 for that price, when in season, and then they are likely to be either hard and unripe, or old and bruised. They come from who knows where? Mangos grow well in Queensland, and I really enjoy them through the summer. Congratulations on the blueberry crop, they look so attractive. I have never seen them grow. Enjoy those peaches for me!!

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    1. Ouch, that's a lot to pay for peaches, Patricia. I am very much enjoying mine for you. I imagine you'll have some wonderful fresh fruit when you travel to Italy and France later this summer, er, make that winter (for you!)

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  5. Super summer fruits that you have grown Sanda.
    I love mangos. I had a big tree in S.A . You can grow the tree from the large seed in the middle.
    I bought peaches the other day and the next day they were soft and yukki. I was so upset. They must have been kept in refrigeration.
    With the rules of the common market, our local farmers cannot sell their lovely organic fruit in the shops. Its all upside down.
    I love blueberries.. but they don't grow here.
    Must look up what properties the pineapple has!..Interesting.
    super post
    val x

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    1. Nothing as good as a good peach; nothing as bad as a bad one! How strange that local farmers can't sell in the local shops. You are so right; everything, at least MANY things, upside down the world over. I'm researching pineapple and will tell you later my findings.

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  6. I don't have any fruit growing on my patio, but we had peaches, grapes, strawberries, blackberries, plums and figs at various times while I was growing up. I need to eat more fruit. I've read that eating an apple 1/2 hour before a meal can help you eat less of the less healthful foods later.

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    1. Have heard the same thing about the apple before a meal. I try to eat an apple every day; that is, when I'm not also eating cantaloupe, mango, blueberries and peaches! Cucumber is something else I'm concentrating on eating more of, as they have so many healthful properties. My vine is growing prolifically so I'll have plenty in a few weeks. Wish there was some way to preserve cucumbers other than pickling; too much trouble and too much salt.

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  7. I too like peaches, only very good ones are hard to find.
    Just now, my favorite is the peach ( naturally imported ). I eat several of them daily. Before, it was apples, before apples, oranges and bananas.
    I like strawberries, but cloudberries are my favorite, only they are often hard to get - depending on the year.
    Our fridge has been filled by berries picked by Merit´s partner ( they have a very small fridge ), so I have not been able to place my own berries in the fridge at all.

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