My mother-in-law, in her infinite wisdom, always makes sure to let her grandchildren know that peeling fruit is not a good idea. “Don’t be Mr. Peeler the vitamin stealer,” she tells them. I’ve always liked this sage advice, and now I can give her (and Mother Nature) credit for being well in front of the scientific community on this fact. Turns out that apple peels fight cancer! A 2007 study by Cornell University found that the skins of apples contain nearly a dozen compounds that restrict or kill human cancer cells in laboratory tests. Thus, when you peel the skin from fruits and vegetables, you lose a lot of nutrition and important phytochemicals (antioxidants).
Harold McGee, in his book On Food and Cooking, talks about how the color of fruits reflect the specific kinds of phytochemicals that their skins contain. As McGee notes on page 271, humans are among a small group of animal species that can visually distinguish between reds, oranges, yellows, and greens—something that allows us to more easily pick out anthocyanin- and carotenoid-rich plants from others.
Fall Fruit: it’s been a cool summer on the West Coast, and some summer fruit is coming in closer to fall. Our fruit mixes always start to change rapidly as we get into September and October. Because we buy from local growers in each region, we are seeing fruits come and go at different rates. Out West, we’ve been seeing some hard-to-find fruits, such as organic Sommerfeld apples from Coco Ranch, in Dixon, CA. This unique California-native apple is a cross between a gala and a fuji. Because of the late spring rains, the Sommerfelds have some spotting, but that doesn’t impact their complex, delicious flavor. In the Midwest, there have been some fabulous gala apples coming out of Niles, MI, from our friend Steve at Lehman Orchards. And some of our East Coast mixes feature wonderful yellow Asian pears from Subarashii Kudamono in Coopersburg, PA. I love the fact that this farm “employs” a team of husky dogs to chase fruit-eating critters out of its 200 acres of orchards. They also place speakers around their trees and play bird distress calls to keep the damage inflicted by avian friends to a minimum—a nice sustainable solution.
As always, to find out what’s in your box, check out your mix and region on our website or just click on the ladybug icon on our home page.
Enjoy & Be Fruitful!
—Chris Mittelstaedt chris@fruitguys.com
Our FruitGuys softball team has a motto: “More runs than injuries.” Up until last week we hadn’t yet won a game, but we were wildly successful with our safety goals. Mom would be proud. This past week, when we finally won our first game in two seasons, I wasn’t sure if it was the result of a sudden alignment of the planets or the amazing four-person rundown between 2nd and 3rd in which we confused the other team so thoroughly that they sat stunned for the next two innings. Whatever the cause, we had reason to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than with fresh apples!
Narrator: “I’m here at FruitGuys East where we’re tracking The FruitGuys local buying and production staff. I’m putting out a box of locally grown Pennsylvania fruit and wearing only my wetsuit, oxygen tank, and mask. Let’s see what happens when I jump into the middle of The FruitGuys production staff’s packing melee! [Narrator rolling around on the floor, talking quickly, out of breath.] “Son of a fish! The staff is actually going for the fruit and completely ignoring me! They’re stepping over me and not even aware that I’m here. It’s almost too much to believe that they haven’t seen or recognized this Emmy Award–winning face. Now they’re swarming in an unbelievably orderly fashion around the box of Vanier plums from 
Ed is also a recipient of our “Farm Steward program.” This year, during the spring, we funded and installed an owl box on his property to help him with pest control. It’s a great, natural way to address rodents who may be looking for water by gnawing through his irrigation system or that might go after the roots of trees.
Recently however, a mustachioed journalist discovered Fruito’s hidden tomb and unearthed his secret book of magic, which was profound in its simplicity. “Ripening,” it said, “is the key to all good tricks with fruit.”
It’s with this spirit in mind that I celebrate The Apricot. Apricots are a timid and precocious fruit. They thrive best in areas of mild winters and, according to Robert Palter, are: “noted by Alexandre Dumas in his own dictionary: ‘Such an early fruit that there are few springs when one does not hear people saying: “There will be no apricots this year, they’ve all been caught by the frost.’’ ’ ”
It’s now the Summer Solstice and (besides checking to see if “the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with mars”) this means that the sun has reached its highest point in the sky and is providing the northern hemisphere with the most light it’s going to get all year, which means that the Peach and Nectarine Train is gathering steam. I wrote about the different kinds of peaches and nectarines a few weeks ago, remember: Cling is where the flesh is woven into the pit; freestone is where the pit and the flesh are detached; semi-cling is just that—some attachment to the pit but not fully woven in. There are also two flesh types for peaches and nectarines: yellow and white. And within these categories there are hundreds of varieties. Peaches and nectarines are climacteric fruits—they ripen after being picked. When they yield to the touch and have an aromatic smell, they are ready to eat.