Today is a beautiful day.
I bought the first bag of new crop mandarin oranges this morning. I didn’t even have my coat off yet and the kids were in the bag, peeling their first one. That first wedge was popped in the mouth, and all eyes were closed, as that first taste of the season filled the mouth with a burst of freshness. Zander promptly peeled a second one, exclaiming that he was clearly in need of Vitamin C. Pure bliss.
This year I made it my goal to follow through on intentional seasonal eating when it comes to the fruit basket. People always wonder how seasonal eating can truly be accomplished- and here in the land of the frozen chosen, we can’t always rely on seasonal eating. But if we do it when we can… The real secret to seasonal eating and doing it successfully is also preserving and putting those seasonal products by for when nothing else is available. I have a freezer packed with a spectacular variety of berries that were picked at the height of perfection. I have a pantry filled with jars of preserved stone fruits and apples, delicious, and wonderful to eat all year long.
In this day and age, you can buy most fresh produce every day of the year. Modern refrigeration and growing techniques make this all too possible. It’s not terrible to want fresh strawberries in December, but they aren’t going to come even close to the quality of a fresh June-grown local strawberry. Here in the United States, we have the added bonus of several growing regions, so it is possible to have fresh, organic strawberries in February that have been grown in Florida. And there certainly is a time for that. But I wanted to know what would happen if we really purposed to eat as little fruit out of season as possible. So without saying a word to anyone in my family even, that it what I have attempted to do this year.
Basically, here is how it worked. As a fruit would come into season, we would go a little crazy indulging. Truly. When those strawberries first ripened in June, it was no holds barred, the kids were free to eat as many as they could hold. By the time their interest in strawberries was waning, the blueberries came in, and the raspberries. Next came the peaches and pears, followed closely by the cherries and plums. Melons made a brief appearance, and next year I am mindful to purchase a few extra melons to chunk and freeze for smoothies. (Which my kids are slowly coming around to. I’ve learned to not put yogurt in the smoothies. They like just the fruit and ice- but I need a bigger badder blender if we’re going to continue with the smoothie making. The cuisinart just isn’t cutting it.)
Apple season arrived just in the nick of time, and oh, we had a good time with that this year! We visited two orchards regularly, and sampled about 15 different varieties. I still don’t think we have a favorite. All told, we went through about 120 pounds of fresh apples this year. Seriously! About half of them were made into applesauce and apple pie jam, but the rest we ate out of hand, or baked into delicious goodies from the oven. We still have a small pile from our last trip to the orchard, but we’re at that point where apples are losing their lustre.
Fortunately, over the last few weeks the grapes have been spectacular- did you know there was a season for grapes? They’re always available, but fall is when they are the sweetest and the biggest- and most importantly- grown here in the U.S.A. We’ve sampled the green, the red, the black, and they’ve all been delightful.
Then this morning, as I spied the new pallet of fresh from Calilfornia Mandarin oranges, I got so excited! Can it really be time for the citrus to start up already? Oh, I know, you can buy citrus year round, but I don’t. Unless I need it for a recipe (and I’m not counting lemons and limes which I buy frequently year round) you couldn’t get me to buy any citrus out of season. Those cuties you bought in August? Yeah, they’ve been sitting in a gas filled warehouse since they were harvested last winter to prevent them from turning to mush.
These little mandarin oranges are only the beginning of the winter fruit season. We’ll have grapefruit and navel oranges and pineapple and pomegranates, making us think of tropical breezes on a cold winter day. I saw pineapple today for a ridiculous price, and I’m wondering if it would be worth it to pick up a whole pile and try home-canned pineapple. Yes, it’s a cheap product to buy at the store, but home-canned fruit has thus far proved superior to me… How will the pineapple fare?
Which brings me to the bananas. Bananas, a perfect snack and food loaded with nutrients essential to our body. As far as I know, there isn’t really a season for bananas, and most of the bananas we find at the grocery store are not grown in our country. One could easily argue that with true seasonal eating, one should skip the bananas. The bananas are my between-season filler. When nothing else is fresh and good, that’s when I buy a bunch of bananas. I’ve bought them so seldom, that when I do buy them, they’ve been a delightful treat to have for a few days.
The real question is, do we miss the fruit that we are not eating? Not really. We’re not missing the strawberries because we’re so busy indulging in whatever is next. And when we do get a hankering for strawberries, I only need to go to the freezer, pull out a bag of strawberries, and we’re instantly transported to the summer day that we spent at the patch picking them when they are at their best. By the time we get to the point where we’re really missing the strawberries, the organic ones from Florida should be ready, and we can get a brief little preview of the summer to come. I like that we’re not eating fruit that’s been gassed and held in storage since who-knows-when.
It’s like that with every fruit we’ve gone through this year! It’s truly been an experiment of joy, because it’s been wonderful eating our way through the calendar of fruit. And it’s been a great year for fruit as well- I think we were truly blessed to have such a great year be the year I decided to do this experiment. It’s also a way of eating that I’ve decided is absolutely worth it. I have a few more fruits on my list that I’d really like to find good sources for. Kiwi, plums, blackberries and mangos come to mind as fruits that we need more of when they are juicy and delicious.
Ultimately, we’re also drastically reducing the expense of keeping fresh fruit in our diet. It is WAY cheaper to buy what’s in season when it is in season. Fresh pineapple is the perfect example. When it’s at its best, I can buy a good whole pineapple for between $1.49 to $1.99, depending on where I am. When it’s out of season, one pineapple can cost $4.99 a pop. The fresh apples we indulged on (all 120 pounds of them!) were enjoyed at just one dollar a pound. That’s a way better deal than the $6.99 for a two-pound bag in the month of April. One of the things I may do in 2014 is attempt to keep track of the cost of seasonal eating, and see how it would compare to a more traditional, American way of buying it when you want it.
I did attempt on a smaller scale to do the same thing with vegetables, but without a good garden this year, that was not as easily done. Maybe next year I’ll be able to work in the vegetables. That would be my ultimate goal- though it will certainly require another freezer!
Seasonal eating. It makes me insanely happy, and brings my children great joy. It’s a great way to eat.