Organic Summer Fruit

Date: 06/10/2018

The abundance of summer is here…

"Five in the morning!!!!!" This is the text of a message I received from a friend this week, with exactly that many exclamation marks. I read the message a little later, so I asked her to elaborate: "What is five in the morning?" I asked. "He woke up at five in the morning!!!!" she exclaimed. It turns out that her eldest son, 6 years old, decided that daylight savings was created for him, so he’s been jumping out of bed at five in the morning for some time now. Especially on Shabbat. Along with feeling sorry for my friend (who does not have a vineyard, or a farm, not even half a goat in the backyard, and she is not one of those who gets up for a morning run, morning yoga, or anything else that happens in the morning unless she is literally dragged out of bed) I thought of the beneficence of these early hours in the summer. The sun is up and there’s light, but the heat is not yet pounding, so this is the perfect time for many things, especially picking in the garden. Most of the world is asleep, there is a wondrous and intimate quiet in the air, and it's just us and the vegetables, waking up together.

At this time of year, the abundance begins to appear in the shop. Organic fruits of summer are in wonderful abundance: apricots, nectarines, watermelon, melon… and there are also cherries and peaches and plums. And everything is sweet, inviting, smiling at us from the tree or bush and saying "I know how hard it was for you to not pick me before my time. How sweet my blossom was, and how tempting the fruit is. And now I'm done and ready. Now I’m really delicious!” Because we know that the most delicious fruits and vegetables are the ones that have been picked now (if you ask some kids I know they will tell you that those that are secretly picked from the neighbor's tree are even more delicious…), we try very hard to pick everything as close as possible to the time of delivery: usually the same morning or the evening before.

The impressively hot days have not yet arrived, but since we live in Israel in the Mediterranean climate, and since the world is heating up from year to year, it is inevitable that the "heavy" heat days will arrive. In these days it is best to bring in and give extra care to the boxes that are sent to you – allow the organic vegetables and fruits to spend as little time as possible in the heat outside your door, just like human beings.

If you had to let the box wait for your arrival and some of the produce looks tired and wilted (you cannot blame it…) treat it like you would anyone who comes in from the heat and wants to revive himself: give them a cold shower! And don’t forget to wipe them thoroughly before putting them in the refrigerator, because water or any other liquid that stands invites bacteria that bring rot.

Also, remember that there are organic fruits and vegetables that continue to ripen after picking. Some of them also project these ripening energies to their neighbors (the truth is that they emit a not very sophisticated gas called ethylene, but it is more fashionable to think about spreading positive energies and good karma). The fruits that do this best are bananas, tomatoes, avocados, apricots and peaches. This is why an avocado that is not completely ripe will benefit from sharing the same bag with a banana. On the other hand, carrots, green leaves, and potatoes should be removed from this same group of ethylene projectors because they actually don’t appreciate it. The rest of the group, those you would like to keep chilled, should be put in the refrigerator, in or above the vegetable drawer, and segregated. I.e. put any fruit / vegetable / root / leaves into its own packaging (a ventilated bag or glassware) so that it is well preserved and will not disturb its neighbors.

Using precise tips for preserving organic fruits and vegetables helps to prolong their lives and their nutritional value.

One last tip for the road: when the bananas’ time has come (that is, when they start to turn into "banana honey" which is usually less attractive to the kids) they should be peeled and put in the freezer. When you crave something cold and sweet, take out a frozen banana, pass it through a blender or food processor, add cocoa chips, fine dark chocolate, maple syrup or any other addition and you get delicious home-made ice cream, that you will be happy to give your kids.