I'm a fan of stone fruit, particularly peaches, nectarines and especially plums.

I have been having issues with them this summer, though - bitter peaches and plums that refuse to soften. Perhaps a corona related harvest or transport issue, or it was just too cold a winter.

Most weekdays I'll eat grapes (red), an apple (granny smith) and a couple of clementines. I'll occasionally have a melon (galia, honeydew or cantaloupe). When it's bramble season I'll usually pick a fair bit and make it into jam. My favourite fruit is strawberry but I don't have it that often, although I've had two punnets since yesterday.

Watermelon.

>>13367
I tend to be sceptical of stone fruits because of low nutrient content. They're like cucumbers or lettuce.

Although mango is bloody delicious.

M and S clementines from Morocco are delicious, pink lady apples and some nice strawberries.

On balance, are dates actually good for you? That may sound like a strange question but my google search tells me that big date is a powerful group.

I bought some from the local cornershop today because I couldn't be arsed queuing for tesco. I know they have good fibre content and general nutrition but, you look at an orange and think "well it has lots of sugar but it is nutritious" but that's only 9/100g. Dates are 63! That's an absurd amount of sugar for something the internet tells me is healthy.

Oranges, because their fresh juice is too good. But Lemons, because when you think about it they're just fucking badass.

Golden delicious apples.

>>13406
Get out.

>>13404

Dates aren't that good for you in my opinion. As you say, the way they're prepared can be extremely high in sugar (almost like a glazing?) and I sometimes think people misunderstand how fibre works -- often the last thing you want to do when you have indigestion is slam a bunch of indigestible fibres on top. Little and often keeps things moving, yes, but lots of fibre can be just as bad as no fibre.

>>13409 >>13404

Dates are just dried fruit. Compare them to raisins, or other dried fruits.
I don't know what dates you've been buying either because they're certainly not syrupy for me. Perhaps a little oily if they've been industrially dried, like raisins.

>>13410
Dried fruit isn't something you should be eating all the time either. Compare the 16% sugar of grapes to 59% in raisins. It's just inferior to fresh produce and ends up almost as bad as eating sweets.

>I don't know what dates you've been buying either because they're certainly not syrupy for me

Mate, they're 80% sugar. 2% more and your eating honey. In fact, it's thought the 'land of milk and honey' in the bible is actually referring to dates.

I had a punnet of strawberries today and they were delicious.

I'm getting a steady trickle of strawberries from the garden, and they're great. (Winning the battle against the sluggy menace and the bastard birds).
However, what I'm really looking forward to, is the massive glut of peaches coming. Hope they don't all fall off, like they sometimes do. When they're good, they're brilliant. Utterly unlike UK shop peaches.
However - OP. Apples. I fucking love apples. Eaters, cookers, dried, crumble, pie, stewed, baked, cider. If there was only one fruit, it'd need to be apples.

OP's picture is confusing me because rhubarb isn't a fruit.

My favourite fruit in general has to be the navel orange. There's nothing more fundamentally refreshing, nothing more that tastes like pure sunshine, that a navel orange cut into quarters, then eaten off the skin.

>>13413

It doesn't take long for strawberries to take over if left unchecked, which is only a good thing if you know a lot of people who'll take some off your hands and throw you a jar or two of jam back.

>>13414
>OP's picture is confusing me because rhubarb isn't a fruit.

Shockingly it also doesn't mention tomatoes.
Maybe by "fruit" it means "crops we eat primarily as a pudding".

>>13415

There's culinary fruit and vegetables, then there's botanical fruit and vegetables. It's safe to assume most people are going to be talking about the former in the context of eating them.

>>13415

Also, how the fuck are bananas and pineapples seasonal in the UK?

>>13417
Aren't all bananas we eat based on the British banana despite there being dozens of other varieties?

>>13417

The best justification I can come up with is they mean 'readily available in the UK', But I feel like an apologist for even saying it.

What's with all the peaches this year? Not complaining, just curious.

>>13495
I've noticed that supermarkets have an abundance of melons recently. Lots on offer for a quid. Assuming it's coronavirus related.

>>13495

I am complaining about the peaches. They're all fucking terrible and seem to rot without ever ripening.

I ordered some oranges from Tesco, and the ones they supplied were roughly the same size as satsumas. At least the bunch of bananas they delivered were nicely green and not immediate banana bread fodder.

>>13498
>Nicely green bananas
Probably the only acceptable 'ripen at home' fruit.

>>13495

>>13497 Look at these magnificent bastards. Probably got 100 or so on our one little tree (in the greenhouse). We've never had so many, and the ones I've already eaten have been fantastic.
It was a crappy year for nectarines and apricots, though.

>>13514
Those look really good! Is it a tree grafted on to a root stock of some kind?

>>13515 Probably - we inherited it.
The nectarine tree next to it is definitely grafted - the rootstock grew hard this year, and the Mrs wouldn't let me hack it back, as she was convinced it was so healthy it would have to grow fruit. Nope. Total of 4, from the non-rootstock section. It's coming off this winter whether she likes it or not.
I'm still fretting that I've left more grapes on the vine than it's got leaves to ripen - it's always a gamble. If they all come good, it's going to be insane. Apples also look very promising this year, although there's a lot of blemishes.

>>13516
The whole science/art of grafting trees onto existing rootstocks does my fucking head in. It's quite amazing really. I wish I had the kind of place where I could plant a bunch of them.

What sort of grapes are they? Edible or for juicing?

The obvious answer with the apples, blemishes and all, is to press them and try not to drink it for a while..

>>13514
Lovely. My freezer was full so I started a mixed berry ferment today. Ended up with quite a lot more than I expected and had to draft in a second bucket.

>>13518
What's in the other bucket on the right?

>>13519
Cabbage brew, what of it?

>>13520 Aimed at pickling or drinking?

>>13517 Grapes are edible if they get big enough. Got pips, though - remember grapes with pips? I think we got about 150kg last year, although the wasps also had a good go, the stripey bastards.
Apples, yes, bought a crusher and press last year. Will buy a much bigger crusher and press this year. Drank it as juice last year, but want to start fermenting, but need to find some space.

>>13519
Is that for sauerkraut or kimchi or similar? I've just never seen it before.

>>13523
>>13519
It's Sauerkraut; I'm doing kimchi too but a much smaller batch.

>>13524
And an expert on pickling eggs by the look of it?

Can I come to your house for tea?

>>13524

There's something about a man or woman who is into fermenting and pickling that just commands instant respect.

>>13525

Pickling various things. It's a simple enough hobby to pick up. You'd be welcome to eat them.

>>13527
I almost got into making jam last year and started to acquire the bits and pieces required - quite similar to pickling I guess.

I like the look of your pickled garlic very much; I'm one of those who usually double the amount in any recipe. How do you make it? I notice you've got both cloves and then bulbs in one jar. Please, tell me everything.

>>13528

The cloves are just pickled in vinegar with peppercorns the usual way. You sterilise the jar thoroughly then boil the thing you want to pickle in vinegar, let it cool then put the two together. It was just white vinegar, the garlic turned it yellow.
The bulbs aren't pickled but "black" garlic which is normal garlic given an enzymatic reaction turning the cloves black, paste-like and gives them a sort of balsamic flavour. I meant to add them to some soy or hot sauce ferments later in the year but they're tasty and I keep eating them.

>>13529

How are you making your black garlic?

>>13530

Wrap it in clingfilm, wrap that in foil, bung it in a dehydrator on low for six weeks. Doing it in big batches is the only thing that makes sense else you're running a mostly empty machine. I don't know if I'd do it again.

Does fruit sugar count as carbhydrates, and will eating it interfere with this ketogenesis thing i keep hearing about?

>>13575
Yes.
Yes and no.

The sugar is fruit is bad but there's not a lot of it and the fibre in natural fruit slows digestion down, so a small amount of fruit does raise your blood sugar but less than a glass of orange juice for instance.

Fine, I'll be the one to say it: those nadorcott oranges from Morocco are a bit shit. You might like 'em if you're fond of clementine but I'm not that sort of guy and the combination of excessive pith and seeds frankly annoys me.

As someone who really likes oranges, I feel like I'm the true victim of Brexit. When I can elbow my way through the morons gawping at the fruit isle I might get some blood oranges but beyond that my choices are limited. Sure there are other fruits but non as versatile as an orange.