The Fountain of Fruit

We’re past 4th of July and hope everyone had as wonderful a time as we did celebrating freedom and family. The weather was perfect this weekend, warm during the day and cooling off at night - just right for family gatherings in the backyard and watching fireworks later on.

Meanwhile, after the festivities we are back to work at Kauffman’s and have some harvest updates for everyone.

1. Cherries: Cherry season is winding down. We started picking Hudson today and will likely be finished picking everything by the end of the week.
2. Peaches: Peaches are gearing up and we are currently on the varieties Richmay and PF1. Desiree and Earlistar will begin this week.
3. The first Plums are here! Early golden are a bumper crop such as we’ve never seen on the variety and we are going to have them available by beginning of next week, and might also get into Methely next week.
4. Apples: Yellow transparent apples don’t seem to be in a rush, but we should be able to start on them at least by the end of the week.

Google Search: The Health Benefits of Fruit

Look up just about any type of fruit online and you’ll find articles a dime to a dozen about the multitudinous health benefits of anything you’ve ever wanted to eat, or not wanted to eat. If it’s peaches, they’re the healthiest, if it’s avocadoes, someone will write something that convinces us that this is the only thing to eat all day, every day without ceasing. For awhile there, Brazil nuts (which are a fruit by the way) were made popular all over the country and prices and sales soared. The question is, have our superfoods become our fountain of youth?

Don’t get me wrong, fruit is a fabulously healthy thing to eat and it can make us happy simply by biting into it, whether it be crisp, sweet, mellow, juicy or softly golden. It contains all sorts of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and a delicious substance known as fruit sugar. In a sense, it is the dessert of the ages, because people didn’t always eat doughnuts, cakes, pies and cookies as vociferously as now. But the question is have we become a people like Ponce de Leon, always searching for the fountain of youth?

The Fountain of Youth

Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer associated with the search for the Fountain of Youth, which was supposed to be found in Florida somewhere and be a spring where, when people bathed in it, would heal them and make them young. He never found it (wonder why) but the desire to find things that make us younger hasn’t gone away. The latest serum for our faces, superfood to restore our health, miracle cures and multi-tiered health programs, drugs, makeup, etc.

Peaches as an Example

People have mashed up peaches with eggs and applied it to faces for beauty, as peach juice is known to be a good moisturizer. Peaches are chock full of vitamins such as: A, C, E, K, and six B complex vitamins. They contain fiber, they contain potassium, and for all that value they taste good. In the Chinese culture the peach tree is considered the tree of life, while it’s fruits are symbols of unity and immortality - even brides would carry the peach blossoms of promised life.

These are all fact (though some slide into historical legends) The issue isn’t that peaches can do so much for us, it’s when we develop unhealthy obsessions with one thing and decide it is the one thing to chase after to gain an elusive fountain of youth. Most foods won’t bear the brunt of that much expectation but are meant to be part of a biological group and then as part of the ecosystem. Part of sustaining quality life, but not necessarily extending it.

Enjoying What is Right in Front of Us

It’s a mistake to obsess over food as our new drug. Hippocrates did say food was our medicine, but our modern understanding instantly goes right to pharmaceutical drugs rather than the idea that food as our everyday healing and enjoyment. Good, real food does so much to add to our health but since we’re used to drugs providing an instant pop of power we expect the same out of what eat and food is more about long-term quality of life, not a magic that will give fulfill unrealistic expectation.

Relax, and enjoy a glass of sprite, doctored a bit

Fountain of Fruit

Ingredients:

Fruits like honeydew, watermelon, cantaloupe, white honeydew melon

Sprite

Lime juice

Mint leaf

Directions:

Scoop out the flesh of melons, etc with a melon scooper and fresh on cookie tray for several hours. Then place the frozen melon balls into glass and pour sprite over top, top with a squeeze of lime juice and mint leaf if you like (we didn’t have any) and enjoy. If using club soda instead of sprite it may taste slightly of melon, but in the sprite the melon balls will take on the flavor of the soda.