PICKING FRUIT
Blueberries $1.86 a quart. Pumpkins $2.50. Apples
$3.98 for a 5 lb. bag. At these prices you might wonder, why anyone would
want to pick their own fruit? I grew up in Michigan, where apples,
blueberries, cherries, peaches and other fruits are plentiful. Fruit
farms are abundant there and picking your own fruit is a common practice.
Within 5 miles of our farm were a dozen orchards and fruit farms.
In a day when fresh is defined as “a couple days old” or
“refrigerated but not frozen”, many people have never experienced the joy of
eating a fruit just off the vine, tree or bush. There is an undeniable
value in handpicking food for your family. Maybe it doesn't take much
skill to select fruit. Having the freedom to choose the choicest berries
off the bush and not just accept from the grocers produce department a plastic
quart container half full of berries you would have not picked outweighs the
convenience for me. We have become a people who cannot recognize quality
fruit, let alone whether that fruit is ripe. How many times have you
heard a person asking aloud, “How do you know if this is ripe?” in the produce
section?
The next time your kids (or grandkids) say they are bored, load
them in the car and take them to the nearest fruit farm and give them an
experience that will reconnect them with the natural processes of growth and
the intentional miracle of a harvest. Your local grocer’s produce sections for
their cheaper prices and convenience, cannot compare to farm freshness.
If you are fortunate, you might be able to show them how fruit is graded,
juiced, processed and packaged for market. Go ahead, make a memory today.
