It has only taken me 26 of my 31 years to realize the awesomeness and deliciousness of seasonal fruit. Let this post be your reminder.
I’m sure most of you are like ‘duhhhh, is this not taught alongside ABC’s in primary school?’ but it’s not. And while I’m sure my mom and dad hinted at seasonal goodness, I’ll blame society who tries to persuade me I can have everything I want at every turn.
And so my folks just returned from a trip up the west coast of South Africa where homemade organic preserves and fresh off-the-orchard fruit is aplenty and small town markets are bursting with creativity, artisanal brilliance and imagination. Life in full colour.
But I almost forgot about the taste in full colour. Oh man, the pink lady apples are something to behold. Crunchy, juicy, pink (no food colouring added!), and all in all a taste sensation.
Our family eats SO much fruit and veg (we’re flexi Paleotarians – flexi in that we cheat and enjoy it) that Food Lovers Market is our best friend. And while the quality can at times be questionable (in that it can go bad fairly quickly) we eat it so fast it doesn’t really bother us. Ah, wait, except for that time my 3year old cherry tomato guzzler left all his tomatoes in his lunch box last week because they tasted suspicious. Agreed. They were totes suspicious. Gross. I don’t want to waste my time eating cherry tomatoes which aren’t sweet, juicy and plump and if they don’t burst in my mouth. So when you come across food where the flavour pops, and its deep, and rich, we all know that that’s how its supposed to be. Right?
I think it’s the same with life. Seasons. And it’s a beautiful thing really. And thank goodness for it because we need the change; we need ups and the downs, we need seasons of celebration, and seasons of difficulty. We need new things to start and we need others to end. In our personal summer seasons we can embrace the figurative warm sun on our skin (so to speak) and in the wintery seasons we need to trudge through thick mud in our wellies until spring breaks, the cherry blossoms bud, and the ground hardens beneath us.
So go out and grab yourself a juicy pink lady apple (in season). Bite into it, and think of your current season, and embrace the present – be it sweet and juicy or not. And know that winter, or autumn, or even next summer is approaching. And it will. And all will be well.
– for the benefit of your taste buds – I’ve added an inforgraphic of fruit and veggies in season. Yum. Enjoy.
