SWEET PICKINGS

Have you ever sunk your teeth into what you thought was going to be a juicy peach, only to discover it was under-ripe or mealy and not worth eating? Tasteless fruit is an affront to both the taste buds and the pocketbook.

But how do you tell if your fruit is ripe before cut into it or take a bite? Here are a few tips for choosing summer fruits that won’t disappoint:

Blueberries
Choose berries that are firm, dry, and blue with a white sheen. Avoid red or green berries. Check the bottom of the berry basket to make sure there are no crushed or moldy berries hiding there.

Cantaloupes
A ripe cantaloupe with be fragrant and cream or golden in color. Avoid green cantaloupes and ones with soft spots other than the end opposite the stem, which is another indication of ripeness.

Cherries
Choose cherries that are shiny, dark, and plump with intact stems.

Grapes
Grapes should be firm, plump, heavy for their size, and firmly attached to the stems. A white sheen is normal. Avoid grapes that are wrinkled or have brown spots.

Honeydews
Avoid melons with a green tinge. Look for ones that are a whitish -yellow or golden in color. Shake the melon. If you hear seeds rattling, it’s ripe. The blossom end should yield slightly when pressed. If you run your fingers across the skin, you should feel fine ridges. Unripe melons are smoother.

Mangoes
A ripe mango will be slightly soft to the touch and fragrant near the stem end.

Peaches
Look for ones that are deeply colored and not green. A ripe peach will be fragrant and firm but slightly soft to the touch.

Plums
Look for plums that are deeply colored, shiny, with a white or gray sheen, and firm but not hard as a rock.

Strawberries
Choose strawberries that are very fragrant and uniformly red. Avoid ones that are yellow, green, or white. The tops should be shiny. Check the bottom of the basket to make sure there are no crushed or moldy berries.

Watermelons
Thump a watermelon. It should sound hollow. They should also be firm and heavy and a dark green with a yellow spot on one side where the melon sat on the ground. If the spot is white, the watermelon probably isn’t ripe.