Me: "I didn't know cherries were in season."
Friend: "If you shop at Costco cherries in Chile are in season."
We laughed because she knows I would never buy them and because I knew she would enjoy them.
Aside from the fact the cherries are shipped from halfway across the world, packaged in single use plastic that even if recyclable is not going to return to the natural world in the life time of any generation I'll ever know, I wouldn't buy them because I'd miss out on what's in season right here. I live in California and can only eat so much fruit. Why eat fruit from Chile?
It's big citrus season right now. Today I had the first grapefruit of the year from the Capay Valley. I've never known one to be so smooth. Eating it was a well rehearsed choir. There were no sour notes, no puckered moments that I expect from grapefruit.
And the same grower has clementines. They're great for work because they can be peeled without getting sticky fingers. And yes, they sing too. Bright voices with perfectly high pitched notes.
There are kumquats in season that I'd never trade for imported fruit. Kiwi that are actually grown locally (I thought they were all imported). And there are limes in our back yard, meyers lemons in everyone else's.
As soon as all this citrus becomes repetitive it'll be over I'll be on to the next season. And maybe it's just me, but the fruit tastes sweeter when I eat what's grown in the same season I see when I look out the door. The local season for cherries is worth waiting for.
2 hours ago
5 comments:
Wow it is just too easy when you live in California. I'm eating oranges too, but they are shipped in from Florida. Our last local fruit of the season was apples. I still have a two left that I stocked up, but they no longer have that crisp, fabulous, just picked apple taste. We won't have fresh fruit again in our area until the June strawberries come out. We are locked into snow in New England. I've only got one squash, one cabbage, three carrots and whatever is left in the freezer. I'm quickly running out. Sometimes I wished I lived in California, then I remember that we get 4" of rain each month fairly regularly and am fine with the world again.
Daphne - First I have to tell you I saw Daphne about to bloom a couple of weeks ago! It's one of my favorite flowers.
We do have it easy in California when it comes to local food. So easy it's largely taken for granted. But just to make you feel even more fine with the world again it's winter and we're hardly getting any rain. Enjoy that snow!
JAM - We should send all those cherries from Chile your way! Your the part of the country that needs them. I can not imagine living in single digits. Just hearing about it makes me appreciate the food system we have though because it is a miracle you can eat organic apples and pears in the heart of winter. Enjoy them.
I agree. I think people living in California who do not eat seasonally are out of their minds. We enjoy just enough of our fruit and veggies before we must move on to the next.
Guess what we find in our local supermarkets. Oranges and lemons from California, isn't this ridiculous, when our own perfectly good oranges will be in season soon. There is so much wonderful summer fruit in season here why do we need to eat oranges and lemons from the other side of the world. Please don't think I'm saying there is anything wrong with californian oranges because I'm not. I bet they have lost all their wonderful flavour by the time they get to Australia and have spent weeks on the sea in cold storage using up tonnes of carbon miles. Enjoy your local oranges and lemons and we will enjoy our peaches, watermelon, cherries etc.
If people stopped buying these out of season fruits then supermarkets will stop buying.
Tracie xx
Green Bean - And even the must move on, is a Hallelujah, what's next!
tracie - Ah, peach season. There's nothing like it. Have one for me please.
We've all gotten so used to having everything available to us all the time though that I suspect that the shipping of food from here to there will outlive us all.
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