I always associate strawberries with later in the year (being a fan of the Wimbledon tennis tournament with its traditional strawberries!) but I know that at least some oranges are in fruit just now.... It's not always straightforward being seasonal...
I live in a strawberry-producing area, and when I was a child, strawberry season meant May. Earlier berries were less tasty and more expensive. As I grew up, the season started earlier and earlier. As far as I know, it's because Spanish producers are in a mad competition with French ones for being the first in the year to get to the northern European market. If you can be the first farmer to get the fruit to Sainsbury, your year pretty much takes care of itself. This means that by the time of the _real_ season, the local consumer has lost interest in strawberries.
Oranges cannot be manipulated that way. The recent weird, warm autumns have meant that local orange trees are in bloom twice: once in Easter, and once in November. But there isn't a summer orange crop from the november blossom, I have no idea why. And you cannot get good quality, Northern hemisphere oranges after March. So, mid march to mid April is the month of hunger .
Leaving nature aside, this haiku is actually a very obscure metaphor for the way lovers and friends come and go...
5 comments:
I always associate strawberries with later in the year (being a fan of the Wimbledon tennis tournament with its traditional strawberries!) but I know that at least some oranges are in fruit just now.... It's not always straightforward being seasonal...
It's strawberry season now in Florida and the orange blossom scent fills the air. :)
sounds as though I posted at the right time for you at least Brian!
The ecological explanation:
I live in a strawberry-producing area, and when I was a child, strawberry season meant May. Earlier berries were less tasty and more expensive. As I grew up, the season started earlier and earlier. As far as I know, it's because Spanish producers are in a mad competition with French ones for being the first in the year to get to the northern European market. If you can be the first farmer to get the fruit to Sainsbury, your year pretty much takes care of itself. This means that by the time of the _real_ season, the local consumer has lost interest in strawberries.
Oranges cannot be manipulated that way. The recent weird, warm autumns have meant that local orange trees are in bloom twice: once in Easter, and once in November. But there isn't a summer orange crop from the november blossom, I have no idea why. And you cannot get good quality, Northern hemisphere oranges after March. So, mid march to mid April is the month of hunger .
Leaving nature aside, this haiku is actually a very obscure metaphor for the way lovers and friends come and go...
Thanjks for your explanation Nia!
Post a Comment