We’ve gotten some spectacular tomatoes this summer from our neighbors who run a hobby farm - some of the best I’ve ever had.
We also got some decent peaches this year from our CSA. Peaches are so hit-and-miss I usually only buy a few a year. The first batch from the CSA was so good I got another batch a couple weeks later. They also gave us some Ginger Gold apples. I am really picky about apples so I was hesitant about these, but they weren’t bad. Nice and crisp, with an unusual, almost pear-like flavor.
And speaking of pears, haven’t had any good ones this year.
Watermelon has been hit-or-miss. I haven’t bothered with any other melons this year.
Rainier cherries showed up here for only a couple weeks and were heinously expensive. I bought two bags two weeks apart. They were good, not great.
Blueberries have been mostly bland, except for the ones I got from my own blueberry bushes. Unfortunately the birds have discovered them, so I had to buy fruit cages to put over them so we’ll actually get to keep our crop next year.
Strawberries we get from a cattle farm about 5 miles up the road that always does a field or two of berries every year and those are always pretty good. We stuff ourselves silly on those every year, plus I make coffee cake and sorbet with them. I’ve also gotten some from the store that weren’t bad either.
I love raspberries but there’s not many that are grown locally, so I’ve started a batch of my own plants. Nothing’s better than home-grown raspberries.
Bah. Honeycrisps are what I’ll eat if I can’t get Ambrosias.
That said, I’ve only had about 50% success with Ambrosias this year. Had more than one that has been bland or, worse, mealy. Pretty much every Jazz, Kanzi, or Envy apple I’ve gotten has been good.
Blackberries not as good as usual, bananas are always fine, strawberries - again, 50/50. Cherries and white cherries, the same.
Most of the strawberries I’ve gotten have been decent, but not spectacular; they had a good strawberry flavor, but weren’t very sweet. The bag of Fuji apples I picked up to make apple-cinnamon nut bread were nice, crisp and sweet. I haven’t really been buying much other fruit.
Now I want jackfruit, and it’s such a pain, both to find around here and to deal with. shakes fist
Colorado peaches from one supplier were absolutely vile and only mediocre from two others.
Most citrus has been rather pathetic, oranges are especially bad.
No other problems worth mentioning.
We had a pretty good summer for produce here in the Bay Area. I took TWO trips to the heritage orchard and brought home bounties of peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots. I made a quart of apricot jam, which is, sadly, all gone. Had some great Watsonville strawberries from the farmer’s market, too, and the season just keeps going. Maybe I’ll make some strawberry jam next weekend…
Particularly if you can find a brand called The Grapery. We discovered not all moon drop and gum drop grapes are created equal. The Grapery is the best. They’re pricey though. I paid nine bucks for a medium sized bag yesterday. Regular grapes were four.
I threw out about 30 bucks worth of fruit this week. African oranges from Kroger were on display as if they were something special. They were all rind and pith. Completely inedible. Peaches were hard as rocks. Three days turned them in to mealy dried out tasteless garbage. Nectarines were the same. The regular black grapes were too sour. My kid won’t touch them. Strawberries were bland but I stewed them so they were saved. I just threw away a watermelon tonight. It had all the good signs but once I cracked it open I knew it would be bad. It was HARD. I’ve never had watermelon so hard on the inside. Not much flavor. It was okay juice-wise but I couldn’t get past that texture. I had a good Bartlett pear but the next day I had a second and it was mealy. What really killed me was the two Honeycrisp apples. Four bucks for two apples and they were as mealy and dry and oddly sour, not tart and sweet like they usually are. I couldn’t eat mine but my daughter cut hers and dipped the slices in peanut butter.
I have given up on good tomatoes. Around here for years and years Ripley tomatoes were the best but they’re pale and hard these days. I just buy the little Camparis in the packages and they’re tolerable all year long.
I can’t afford to be throwing away fruit like this. I don’t know what to do. Bananas are cheap enough that my daughter gets one every day but I’m allergic.
For the first time in years we have prolific tomato plants outside and they have been quite good. Peaches and nectarines are done. Good melons are hit and miss. Too early for oranges, but Ginger Gold apples and Galas are coming in. Too early yet for decent pears. You can still get a good plum. Avoid early rambo or Lodi apples, they are soft and mealy. Strawberries are grown and marketed for travel not taste. Avoid most mangoes.
When I buy peaches I try one. If it is great, we eat them. If not, I halve and grill them. Win/win.
Watermelon has been hit or miss as usual. I buy a whole melon and some are outstanding. I made a chilled watermelon soup with one that was just a bit overripe, and that was amazing. Any that suck get turned into eggs.
The amazing part is how much of the watermelon they consume. They eat the yummy red stuff, any seeds, and the rind. they leave an almost paper-thin green skin.
This summer, I bought a bushel of peaches from thepeachtruck. They were fabulous! They had to sit around for a few days, but once they were ripe, they were the best peaches we had EVER had. I canned them. Well, what ones were left that we didn’t eat. They were hard to stay out of, that’s for sure. Thepeachtruck comes to my area, and many, many areas, on certain dates, during the summer. They are WELL worth the money. You can check them out, by Googling their name. Just put a ‘.com’ behind it. I know where we’ll get our peaches from here on out. I can’t say enough good things about them.
