Among the Joys Of Summer

I grew up in the Hudson Valley, and remember as a teen eating lots of perfectly ripe fresh fruit. Nothing tasted better to me then. Or now.  Recently, I met with orchard owner Dale Baker of Don Baker Farm in Hudson, NY. His grandfather planted the original orchard trees there, a variety of cherries, peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, pears and apples. In the last 25 years most of the original trees have been replaced, but a few older cherry trees planted in the 1920s remain, a testament to three generations of farming and care. We sampled a red plum, bursting with juices and perfectly sweet and sour, a treat.  This fruit is great due in part to the near-perfect conditions in the Hudson Valley — the cycles of cold and heat necessary to produce good fruit.  The soil is good, and lime is sometimes added to get the right pH level. There is an abundance of shale in the soil, which creates excellent drainage. Of course, know-how is also vital; Baker learned orchard care from his parents, and earned his degree in ornamental horticulture from Cornell University in 1976.Baker will offer 15 or so varieties of apples starting in September with some going into November.  You can find many varieties of apples, but it’s hard to find fruit at its peak of freshness at your local market. Baker and others have given up wholesaling, and sell only directly to the public at their orchards or at the farmers’ market in Hudson (see: https://hudsonfarmersmarketny.com/), Albany, or Schenectady.  One of Baker’s greatest pleasures is sharing a taste of really ripe fruit and seeing people’s reaction. This is the way fruit should be served, and it is well worth it to seek out this freshness for a number of reasons. First, of course, is flavor and nutrition. But supporting these local farmers directly is also necessary if we want these resources preserved for future generations. Baker is one of four or five fruit farmers in his area where there were about 25 when he was young.  The challenges include an increased presence of varmints (a flock of crows can wipe out the produce of an entire cherry tree in no time), damaging storms and cold snaps (the unusually long period of cold winter weather damaged the cherry buds at Dale’s farm, and the trees failed to set a crop for this season), difficulty arranging labor to harvest the crop (migrant labor and local help were plentiful a generation ago, but are scarce now and difficult to arrange), and local zoning pressures. You can find out picking times by going to www.donbakerfarm.com. And you can get a good overview at www.pickyourown.org/nyse.htm.   While eating fresh fruit “as is” is terrific, one can also freeze, dry, and preserve fresh fruit for later use. Fresh, ripe fruit makes delicious soups, and it can be be used as sauces or syrups to serve over shaved ice, ice cream or yogurt. Here is one basic recipe we use for fruit soup, adapted from Bon Appétit. Blueberry Soup1 pound frozen blueberries, unsweetened1 cup water5 tablespoons sugar or 3 tablespoons Xyla2 lemon slices1 cinnamon stick1 pinch of salt1/2 teaspoon vanilla extractLemon wedgesYogurt Bring first 7 ingredients to a boil in a heavy, medium-sized saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until berries are very tender, about 10 minutes. Discard lemon slices and cinnamon stock. Purée half of soup, then combine and refrigerate until very cold. Serve in bowls orstemmed glasses with lemon wedges and a dollop of yogurt.