--STONEFRUIT: Ripening is everything. Knowing how to ripen stonefruit is just as important as eating a juicy peach or nectarine, or knowing how to use stonefruit in recipes. Just like with bananas, cold temperatures will stop the ripening process of unripe fruit. In simpler words: Cold kills flavor! The cold temperatures will also cause the cell structure of the unripe peach or nectarine to break down, causing the fruit to become mealy. Unripe peaches and nectarines should be left out at room temperature. Keep them enclosed in a fruit ripening bowl or a paper bag. The magic of the brown paper bag is amazing. In just a few days, you'll enjoy perfectly ripened fruit. If you leave the fruit exposed to open air, because there are no natural oils on them, the fruit will dehydrate and shrivel before they ever ripen. White-flesh fruit will ripen almost twice as fast as yellow-flesh fruit. Once the stonefruit is fully ripe, it would be ideal to use it quickly. If you can't, ripe stonefruit can be refrigerated for up to several days. Beyond that, the fruit will loose a lot of its flavor and texture. It's tough getting perfectly ripened peaches or nectarines at the store. It's best to buy fruit ahead of time and plan on ripening them yourself. By knowing how to properly ripen stonefruit, you should enjoy heaven, one fruit at a time. The best joys of summer this year are when you can grab a ripe peach or nectarine, roll up your sleeves, and relish the sheer pleasure of summer.

OK, so how do you pick out the best peach or nectarine? Do you see all that red on the fruit? Is that the way you can tell? Well, as one fruit scientist said, "Americans are suckers for red." The redder the fruit looks, the more likely you will buy it. Most peaches and nectarines have been bred to have 90 - 95% red blush on the fruit. That is a variety distinction, not a sign of ripeness or sweetness.

Here are some simple things to look for in finding the finest peach or nectarine:

• Feel it in your hand. It should feel very heavy for its size. If it feels like balsa wood, that means there's no juice in the fruit. You need juice to have sugar content. Without juice, there's no sugar. No flavor.



• Next, don't look at the red blush. Look at what I call the "background" color. What is behind the red blush? The best place to see this is at the stem end. Is there more yellow than green? That's a piece of fruit that is mature and will ripen. The more yellow, or the darker the yellow, the better. If there is more green than yellow, then that is a piece of fruit that is most likely immature and will not ripen.



• Finally, smell it. If it has a full aroma, you know it's going to taste great.

--ZESPRI GOLD MELON MADNESS: The huge "Westside District" has started production this year. This is the west side of the San Joaquin Valley in Fresno County. Ancient alluvial floods have provided this region with some of the richest soil found anywhere on earth. Melons love warmth, since they originated from the hot Mediterranean. The sultry summers in the San Joaquin Valley are perfect for melons. Growers here say that harvest started about a week earlier than normal this year. Last year, harvest was about a week late because of a cool La Nina Spring. Two years ago, harvest began about two weeks late, because of a wet El Nino Spring. "We've have near ideal weather patterns this year," one grower told us. Ideal weather is warm nights, no rain, and hot days with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s. With this weather pattern, sugar content should be very high. Most growers also say that acreage in the Westside District is just about the same as last year. If yields are higher because of better growing conditions, we should see a great season for melons. In cooperation with the California Department of Health Services, I'd like to remind you to be food-safe and wash your melons before you cut them. Melons do grow in dirt and need to be washed to prevent cross-contamination. Also, keep cut melons refrigerated. If cut melons are un-refrigerated for more than three hours, toss it. You can store your melons at room temperature to fully develop juice and flavor.

Michael Marks Exotic Melon Relish

Ingredients

Instructions

Michael Marks is the marketing director for JC Produce, the largest independent produce distributor in California, with distribution facilities in Sacramento and Los Angeles. He is also known as "Your Produce Man" on his nationally syndicated television produce report, and is seen on HGTV's "Home Grown Cooking with Paul James." You can learn more about Michael at www.jcproduce.com or www.yourproduceman.com.

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