This story cracks me up every time. . . My daughter walks into the kitchen, holding a chess board. "Dad, can you play chess with me?" Surprised, I say: "Sure, do you know how to play chess?" Her …
Fall Market September 24, 2007
One of my fondest childhood memories of fall was going with my mother to the Lancaster Farmers Market on Lancaster Pike in Strafford, Pennsylvania. The market was inside a huge old fluorescently-lit …
Cute as a Pear Fairy
My girls are on the playground twirling with their arms held out. "Let's play the Fairy Game," they say. They don't say it very loudly, but somehow, almost telepathically, all the six-year-old girls …
The Annual Fall Fruit Opera
It's that time of year again: "Newsletter Classics." The time when I re-run an oldie but a goodie. The actors may have changed slightly but the characters and the plot are always the same. …
Spreading Happiness September 3, 2007
During my freshman year in college, everyone made each class choice seem dire and grave: "Are you sure you're making the right choice? This is the rest of your life you're talking about here." To let …
The Face of Fruit August 20, 2007
Cruising south on the I-5 outside of Kettlemen City, the bow of the minivan cuts into the asphalt like a compass needle fixing us on a distant center of magnetic attraction known as Legoland. The kids …
The Fruit Report
Harvest Flyer Crates I know we've found a great piece of fruit when, during the taste testing, my mouth starts acting involuntarily, and I can't stop eating fruit until there is nothing but pit left …
Flavor Pacifists July 30, 2007
Most fruit is named for the farmer (or someone close to the farmer) that cultivated it. Sometimes it is named for a fantastical image that the fruit conjures in mind. Take for example the Elberta …
Russian River Gravs July 23, 2007
The Russian River in Northern California bends quietly through the thick redwood covered hills of Sonoma County. Communities of shingled, dark wood river houses are tucked into the musky groves and …
California Dreaming July 16, 2007
I grew up pretty naive. Before moving from my home town of Philadelphia in the early '90s, I didn't know what to expect of Northern California. I thought that nude beaches were the punch line of a …
FruitGuys Bananas on Youtube.com July 9, 2007
I have a confession to make. I love being The Banana. And I just made my world-wide debut on www.youtube.com/user/fruitguys. My fruit-buddy Beth Lisick was with me at an event in Las Vegas recently, …
Blueberry Who . . .? July 2, 2007
When Dan, our produce buyer, announced on Friday that we would be getting blueberries for the Harvest Flyer and Organic crates this week, Jeff, our distribution manager told us this. Jeff: "When I …
A Summer Poem June 25, 2007
Here's my little poem, I've sprinkled it with rhyme Tis an ode to the fresh sweet tastes of fruit in summertime. Week one of grapes has now arrived from warm California sun We've found again the white …
Tree-zilla! June 11, 2007
Here's a riddle: What non-human life form looks like a tree, is a gigantic herb and produces a single flower from which 20 hands grow??? If you're thinking of "Tree-Zilla," that terrifying jungle …
Who Are We? June 4, 2007
Remember when you were a kid and first heard about Swiss Army knives -- "It actually has scissors in it?" What couldn't it do? Finding out about the extras that the things you use have is an important …
Blake’s Fruit May 21, 2007
Blake Carlson started his farm in 1985 along with his wife, Lisa. They grow grapes, peaches, nectarines, plums, and pluots in the central valley of California. Together with their crew of pickers, …
Office Heros April 30, 2007
Mr. Jackson is down on one knee, silver stopwatch in hand. He's smiling and calling out times as runners cross the orange cones at the finish line. Our entire fifth-grade class is bumping up against …
Match point: Summer April 23, 2007
Did I ever tell you the story about the spring I thought I was Bjorn Borg? The entire top drawer of my dresser was filled with deep-pile sweatbands. As it warmed up from winter into spring I'd trade …
The Hit and Miss of Spring Strawberries April 16, 2007
It's Saturday afternoon and I'm racing around to re-print the newsletter. Every Friday I get together with Dan, our produce buyer, to go over what is new and unique in the crates for Monday. This …
Semper Ubi Sub-Ubi April 9, 2007
We all wore togas to our Latin Club party my senior year in high school. I wasn't a great Latin student, but I lived by the motto developed by our Latin club members - semper ubi sub-ubi, "Always wear …
