The Best Is Yet to Come

Summertime is fresh fruit and vegetable season and locally grown is the way to go. Produce grown by local farmers is usually fresher and therefore tastier and more nutrient dense. With modern harvesting and shipping methods, many Chicagoland supermarkets stock produce a day or two after it is picked. Ask the grocery produce manager for delivery days so you can get your favorite produce at its freshest.

Select the Best
Mississippi watermelons are arriving and will continue throughout the summer. Contrary to popular belief, thumping a melon does not indicate ripeness. Unlike the cantaloupe, watermelons do not continue to ripen after harvesting. So you get what you get. Follow these tried and true guidelines for a perfect selection every time. Look for:

• large, firm, symmetrical and very heavy watermelons

• skin color should be bright with a waxy bloom that gives way to gloss

• check the underside that grew against the ground Ñ it should be creamy or yellowish, not white or pale green

• look at or taste a cut melon from the sellerÕs supply, it will give you a fair idea of quality for the others

• mature, ripe watermelons have dark seeds with few or no immature white ones

• avoid cracks, soft or watery bruises and mealy flesh

• watermelon will not improve with age, refrigerate whole watermelons and cut portions and eat within a few days

Fresh Berries
Fresh berries are one of the major glories of summer. Whether gathered from the wilds, the garden, the roadside stand or the supermarket summer berries are special. Blackberries, strawberries and raspberries are most fragile. Blueberries have a tough skin and travel well. For all berries:

• choose packages with no seepage or juice on the bottom

• decay spreads quickly, so pick through berries and discard irregular or bruised fruit

• berries absolutely must be kept cool, refrigerate at all times and use within a few days

• berries are water soluble, once the package starts to mold, discard the whole thing, mold spores spread throughout the contents rapidly (molds have been linked to several forms of cancer)

Early Summer 1997
Watering Lawns Properly | 1997 Perennial Plant of the Year - Salvia 'May Night' | Shrub of the Month - Butterfly Bush | Garden Myths | Basics of Fertilizing Houseplants | Cybergarden Sites | Bug Bites | Lawn Care Calendar | Hort Shorts | Hort Tips | Food Safety: The Summertime Rules | Healthy Cooking: All Vegetables Are Not Created Equal | Locally Grown: The Best Is Yet to Come | Health Update: First Aid Kit To Go | Health & Household Tips | Did You Know?

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