I Was a Teenage Fruit Bat

Every time of year comes with produce that is special to that time of year - namely, here - I'm talking about fruit.

Right now we are in citrus, apple, and pear time.  Apples and pears season starts in fall, and they're fine year-round, but now is good for them. Grapefruit and oranges will keep you scurvy free and fruitful until strawberry season hits in a few months.

Bananas are always good to me.  When you think about the trouble we go to in getting them to the US, it's pretty impressive.  My father grew a cluster of banana trees in the backyard of my childhood home.  Several times, it bloomed, revealing rows and rows of tiny green fingers that would, given a tropical climate, become large ripe bananas.  Sadly, Atlanta, GA isn't tropical.  But he had a tree that would winter in their zone.  


Dad's Banana Tree, With Bananas



Spring brings cherries, berries and the promise of summer.  You can get good grapes, too.  They're year round, but some are better than others.  If you can find Moon Drop grapes in the fall - get them.  Not just because they look phallic, but... that doesn't hurt.

Summer is, for me, melon season.  I could take down entire watermelons, cantaloupe, and honeydew. And if you know the right people at the Nashville Farmers Market, you're going to get some perfect melons every time.  My husband does not like watermelon, which is a shame for him.  I still buy them and gorge on them from late June to late August.   I'm not a stone fruit fanatic, but I like a good pear, and I love pluots, apriums, plucots, and apriplums (and yes, they are all slightly different).

Then we're back into prime apple and pear time, good grapes - blueberries from Michigan.  And the promise of citrus coming into our lives.

Now, I am a fan of eating what's local and in season, but that would put a lot of really great things out of my reach.  That said, am I eating watermelon in February?  No.  I mean, wherever it came from, I'm sure it's summery there.  But not here, and travel does not good watermelon make.

I won't bother with tomato sandwiches unless I bought the tomato from a farm stand - roadside or market. I prefer my cucumbers without waxed exteriors.  But I also know that there are no avocado farms here in Nashville, and I'll eat the heck out of some avocado.

I am mentioning all of this because I am attempting, yet again, to detox off the candy/cake/cookies that derail me from living a healthier life.  I love healthy food.

But I also like junk, and lots of it.

So, I am leaning into fruit, and we'll see how it goes.

ae

Comments

Christopher said…
Some business associate of my wife sent us a big platter of dried fruit. Just pure fruit--nothing added because dates and figs don't need it, and, let's face it, dried kiwi and pineapple are basically nature's candy. It also came with assorted nuts which is fine with me because I love some plain nuts. Lightly salted is okay but as far as I'm concerned most nuts don't need it. Anyway I'm having a banana right now. And could go for some watermelon but, yeah, I'd rather wait and get some locally grown. I doubt that papaya I just got is locally grown but I'm willing to overlook that.