Selection

• Mangos
The ripeness of mangos can be determined by either smelling or squeezing. A ripe mango will have a full, fruity aroma emitting from the stem end. Mangos can be considered ready to eat when slightly soft to the touch and yielding to gentle pressure.

• Nectarines
Ripe fruit are fragrant and give, slightly, to the touch. Look for fruit with smooth unblemished skin. Avoid extremely hard or dull colored fruits and soft fruit with soft, wrinkled, punctured skin.

• Plums
Plums should be plump and well colored for their variety. If a fruit yields to gentle pressure, it is ready to eat, however, you can buy plums that are fairly firm, but not rock hard and let them soften at home. They will not increase in sweetness, as they do not gain sugar after they are picked. Ripe plums will be slightly soft at the stem and tip, but watch out for shriveled skin, mushy spots, or breaks in the skin.

Ripening At Home

The best way to ripen a mango, nectarine or plum is at room temperature, on the kitchen counter for approximately 2 -3 days (slower or faster ripening time is determined by the temperature in your house). If you wish to accelerate the process place in a paper bag overnight with other fruit to create more natural ethylene gas.

Once ripened they each can be refrigerated for a few days, but should be used shortly thereafter.

Raspberries
The most serious disease of raspberries is gray mold, caused from rain when fruits are at their ripest. Conventional growers can use fungicides for this problem, but there are no organic fungicides available for organic growers to combat this problem. They have to be more proactive, choosing a location with good soil, and arranging crop rows to take advantage of sunlight and breezes. Other techniques are trellising, removing spent canes, thinning, controlling weeds, cover crop mowing, and a tight picking schedule to reduce the presence of overripe fruit.

Cucumbers
A recent report reviewed the current data comparing pesticide residues on organic and conventional produce. It found that conventional vegetables are 6.8 times more likely to have one or more detectable residues, and about a dozen pesticides are routinely present in fresh produce at levels that pose significant risks. The average conventional cucumber contained 2.7 different pesticides.

Honeydew Melon
Honeydew melon is a long-season crop, more so than other melons. Longer time in the field makes melons more susceptible to insects and leaf disease, which can translate into more pesticides being used. Organic growers know that excess nitrate fertilizers can bring on bugs and mildew so they are careful to use compost and other slow-release sources of nitrogen. Instead of potent fungicides that conventional growers use, organic growers use botanical oils from jojoba and neem and even baking soda to combat disease. They also use biological sprays that employ competitive micro-organisms, which are harmless to us, but are lethal to the bacteria and fungal diseases that plague hot and tired melon plants.

Plums
Have you ever seen beautiful plums turn ugly with a soft brownish mold? It’s brown rot. In the spring, when plum trees bloom and set fruit, rain and cool weather encourage brown rot spores to enter the twigs where the fruit forms. Conventional growers spray synthetic fungicides; organic growers spray naturally occurring minerals and biofungicides (which have safe bacteria) to compete against the fungal spores.

Zucchini
Cucumber beetles are the scourges of zucchini growers. They feed on the leaves and spread disease from one plant to another. Some conventional growers use traps that contain a combination of cucurbitacin juices and carbaryl (a toxic insecticide) as a control method. Organic growers use floating row covers as a barrier between insects and plants, heavy mulch to deter egg laying in the soil, and they plant perimeter trap crops to attract beetles away from the zucchini. They also use natural predators like soldier beetles, wasps and bats. Did you know that 150 midwestern brown bats can eat to up 38,000 cucumber beetles?

Thompson Seedless Grapes
It’s tempting to pluck a grape and pop it in your mouth, but don’t. Grapes are heavily sprayed. An Environmental Working Group study of government data revealed that imported and domestic grapes rank in the top 10 for residues. California grape growers are reducing their use of the more toxic pesticides, but plenty are still being used. Late season grapes are often treated with sulfur dioxide gas to increase storage time; organic growers can’t use these. Your best bet is buying organic and washing your grapes to rinse off any dirt and residues. Don’t worry about the frosty color on the grapes—that’s natural, it’s called bloom.

Pickled Pears

8 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
8 cinnamon sticks (2-inch pieces)
2 tablespoons cloves, whole
2 tablespoons allspice, whole
8 pounds pears

Combine sugar, vinegar, water and cinnamon; add cloves and allspice that are tied in a clean, thin, white cloth. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered about 30 minutes. Wash pears, remove skins, and the entire blossom end; the stems may be left on if desired. To prevent peeled pears from darkening during preparation, immediately put them into cold water containing 2 tablespoons each of salt and vinegar per gallon. Drain just before using. Add pears to the boiling syrup and continue simmering for 20-25 minutes. Pack hot pears into clean, hot pint jars; add one 2-inch piece cinnamon stick per jar and cover with boiling syrup to 1⁄2 inch from top of jar. Adjust jar lids. Process in boiling water bath canner for 20 minutes. Yield 7-8 pints

These may get your culinary juices flowing to try some new salad ideas, or give them as a gift for special friends.

If not pears, what about putting up some tomatoes? There is nothing like that summer tomato taste to cure the wintertime blues. Still a little hesitant to can or pickle? Why not freeze some tomatoes for sauce? Try this technique from Alice Henneman. It’s easy and yields great results.

Frozen Tomatoes

Select firm, ripe tomatoes for freezing. They may be frozen whole, sliced, chopped or puréed. Additionally, you can freeze them raw or cooked, as juice or sauce, or prepared in a recipe. Thawed raw tomatoes may be used in any cooked-tomato recipe. Don’t try to substitute them for fresh tomatoes, however, as freezing causes their texture to become mushy. Tomatoes should be seasoned just before serving rather than before freezing.

Wash tomatoes before cutting. To wash, wet each tomato with water, rub its surface, rinse it with running water, and dry with a paper towel. Cut away the stem scar and surrounding area and then chop.  Soap or detergent is neither recommended nor approved for washing fruits and vegetables because they can absorb detergent residues.

To freeze whole tomatoes with peel, wash and cut away the stem scar as described above. Place tomatoes on cookie sheets and freeze. Tomatoes don’t need to be blanched before freezing. Once frozen, transfer the tomatoes from the cookie sheets into freezer bags or other containers. Seal tightly. To use the frozen tomatoes, remove them from the freezer a few at a time or all at once. To peel, just run a frozen tomato under warm water in the kitchen sink. Skin will slip off easily.

Storage

To extend the time frozen foods maintain good quality, package foods in material intended for freezing and keep the temperature of the freezer at 0 degrees F or below. It is generally recommended frozen vegetables be eaten within about eight months for best quality.
Come January you’ll be glad you took the time to preserve a little bit of summer.

If you’re a cook, you’ll love the flavor of this Easy Peach Cobbler recipe from www.allrecipes.com that helps take advantage of the summer peach bounty. Not so culinarily inclined? Take on this simple recipe for a dessert that everyone will love.

Here’s what you’ll need
· 12 fresh peaches, pitted and sliced

· 1-cup water

· 1 cup white sugar

· 1/2-teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix (I told you this was the easy route, besides you can use organic cake mix if you like)

· 1 (8 ounce) package organic cream cheese

· 1/2-cup butter

DIRECTIONS
· Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

· Spread peach slices evenly into a 9×13 inch-baking dish, combine water and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve, and then pour mixture over peaches.

· Sprinkle cinnamon over peach slices, followed by dry cake mix. Top cake mix with pats of cream cheese. Dot cobbler with butter or non-dairy spread.

· Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, until golden.

If you really want to make it special add some fresh organic blackberries on top before serving.
And even though this is a “dessert,” why not throw caution to the wind and serve for breakfast on a hot summer morning with a dollop of cool yogurt. It will be a nice change from the norm for you and someone you love. Now that’s Hmmm, hmmmm great!