How I’m Gathering the Flavors of Summer

When I was growing up, my mom used to read me a wonderful children’s book by Leo Lionni called Frederick. The story follows a group of field mice as they prepare for winter. All of the mice are scurrying around gathering food and readying their winter shelter—except for Frederick.

He says he’s gathering colors and words. Once winter starts, the mice enjoy their store of food, but soon, it gets scarce, and they get bored. That’s when Frederick shares what he collected: He describes the beauty of sunlight and the colors of spring. His poetry entertains the mice all through the dark winter.

My family still references this book whenever we’re trying to remember something for later or hold on to a precious moment. My mom will look at her grandkids playing and say, “I’m gathering colors.” As summer speeds by, I find myself trying to be like Frederick and gather the tastes of my favorite fruits before they’re gone.

Summer Flavors Worth Gathering

This weekend, while watching England score multiple goals on France in the World Cup third-place game, I had the best yellow nectarine I’ve tasted this season from my FruitGuys box. It came from Rocking Chair Farm Markets and struck the perfect balance between sweet and acidic. It tasted like summer: a little sweet, a little tart, juicy, and refreshing. I suddenly felt the urgent need to eat one every day and “store” the taste for fall.

Luckily, stone fruit season isn’t over quite yet. In much of the country, we’ll likely have peaches and nectarines through August and plums and pluots even longer, although this year’s season may be shorter than usual. So I’m going to keep gathering all of the flavors and eating all the stone fruit I can get my hands on until the sweetness of summer can carry me through to next year. I hope you’ll do the same!

Get Summer Flavors Delivered

As always, you can find the widest variety of seasonal fruit in our Season’s Best Box and Harvest Mix (the one my family gets each week).

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