The View from 35,000 Feet

I am 35,000 feet in the air somewhere over Nevada as I write this, en route to Washington, DC, to visit customers, partners, and employees in the mid-Atlantic area.?

It’s a gorgeous day and I can see the landscape move west below me. The earth is mostly brown and windswept, with mountains rising up in the distance and light snow on the higher elevations. As we travel east, probably entering Utah, the brown earth turns to red with more frequent, jagged ravines in the rock formations. It’s as if someone took a potter's tool and carved canyons into the flat rock plateaus, all of it shaped by millions of years of wind and water and slowly shifting tectonic plates. This bird’s eye view of the world always awes me; it’s amazing how nature shapes and changes the earth.

As we reach the end of the fall season and prepare to enter winter, I’m reminded that the way nature shapes the world may be easier for some of us to see than others. If you live closer to the equator, the changing seasons might not seem very dramatic — but nature’s little shifts are there, and your local farmers can see them.?

Modern cold storage and global distribution hide the fact that fruit is highly seasonal. But that doesn’t change nature. Eating local, seasonal food remains a beautiful way to mark the natural passage of time, no matter where you live. When you eat seasonally, you can enjoy the freshest and best-tasting fruit (which is also very good for you).?

What’s The Best Fruit to Eat Now? Fall’s fresh pears, apples, pomegranates, and persimmons are fading away as winter citrus comes into season. Pears and apples from the recent harvest will still taste delicious until early spring and, through the magic of proper cold storage, be available through summer.????

Winter citrus season in California is getting underway now. California grows about 80% of America’s oranges, tangerines, and lemons, with Arizona, Florida, and Texas also growing remarkable citrus. Our northern and southern California boxes already have some early Navel oranges from Bee Sweet Citrus, Kings River Packing, and Homegrown Organic Farms.??

As we get further into the season, you’ll see some of my favorite citrus items such as easy-to-peel Satsuma mandarins (also one of my favorite FruitGuys annual poems), blood oranges, and Tahoe Gold mandarins. Unlike apples and pears, these citrus items don’t hold up long after picking without losing their flavor. Use the quiet time of winter to thoroughly enjoy them while you can.?

Here’s to the beginning of citrus season: May it be a fruitful one.?

In gratitude, your Chief Banana,?

–Erin Mittelstaedt

CEO, The FruitGuys