Celebrating Fruit
We are about to launch headlong into the organic summer fruit season, and I encourage all of us to enjoy it with abandon.
Plums, in their rainbow of colors—red, black, yellow, and green—are firm, flavorful, and a great place to start. For juicy, flavorful plums, select those with full color. Take them home and place them in a paper bag on the counter for a few days. They’re ripe when they yield slightly to gentle palm pressure. Once ripe, they can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Pluots, though they may look like plums, are a hybrid of approximately 75% plum and 25% apricot. They have a very high sugar content and often taste intensely sweet compared to the more balanced, sometimes tart flavor of traditional plums.
Peaches and nectarines—it wouldn’t be summer without them. While it’s tempting to buy them year-round, your patience will be rewarded by waiting for U.S. season. When selecting, give them a gentle smell. They should be fragrant, almost perfume-like. The skin should be free of bruising, with a soft, downy fuzz and a blend of pink and yellow tones. Once ripened (not before), peaches can be stored unwashed in the refrigerator for 3–5 days without losing flavor or texture.
Organic berries come in all shapes, flavors, and sizes, starting in May and lasting well into late summer. Pricing this time of year makes it easy to indulge, and the flavor will keep you coming back for more. If you need them to last longer, remove any soft or damaged berries, then store them in a shallow container lined with a paper towel, covered loosely with another paper towel and a lid that doesn’t apply pressure. This method helps keep berries fresh for several days in the refrigerator.
Organic melons offer endless variety, and nothing is quite as refreshing as a perfectly ripe melon at peak season. Cantaloupe, watermelon, canary, honeydew (green and orange), Sharlyn, Galia—the list goes on. While there’s no single trick to picking the perfect melon, using your senses is key. Many ripe melons will have a pleasant, fresh aroma. Watermelons are the exception; instead, tap for a dull thump. In general, a melon that feels heavy for its size with a light fragrance is likely sweet and ready to enjoy.
Lastly, organic tomatoes are technically a fruit. With incredible diversity in flavor, shape, and size, they elevate salads, soups, and sandwiches. If you love tomatoes, this is your season.
So much bounty and variety can feel overwhelming, but don’t rush past it. Take it in and make shopping an adventure each week. If there’s anything worth slowing down for, it’s summer fruit.
