How do you pick a peach?

I've recently read a book called How to pick a Peach by Russ Parsons. I found the book to contain a lot of interesting information about farming science. The author spends a lot of time with agricultural scientists and self-educated farmers to learn about the things they deal with. Some questions are how do you breed a peach or strawberry so that it ships well. No, it doesn't have to do with making good tasting fruit, shipability and being disease resistant are more important. I've often wondered why I have never had a good-tasting fresh apricot. Seems that the varieties that ship well have no flavor, according to the author. Guess I will stick with dried apricots from now on.

The book also has a lot of fascinating information about apples and oranges. I learned that red delicious apples used to taste good. This was back in the days of the apple being golden with some red stripes. These did not sell well. Red sells better so red delicious apples became all red and in doing so lost all of their flavor. I hate red delicious apples. I also learned that oranges are probably crosses between a pummelo and a tangerine.

The author does not cover every fruit and vegetable that you are likely to find in your neighborhood grocery store, but you will find the most common items. One notable exception is celery.

At the end of each chapter there are tips on buying and storing the items just discussed so the author does teach you how to pick peaches, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. I found most of the how to buy rules pretty common sense. I know to avoid things that look damaged, wilted, moldy, and so on. What I did learn was how to store my produce. It seems that a lot more things should be refrigerated then I thought.

There are some recipes in the book, most I am not likely to try because of my limited space and lack of a blender which nearly every recipe used. Even with that complaint I am tempted to buy an ice cream maker just so that I can try the nectarine-cardamom ice cream recipe. I was most interested in the book for its information content and not its recipes and serving ideas so I got what I wanted out of the book. If you are interested in food science and where food comes from, then I would recommend How to pick a Peach to you.