Ugh! I hate it when fruit looks good, has a great fragrance, and has no flavor.

[Denninmi]

California nectarines at the grocery store this morning, looked good, have a nice fragrance. Just bit into one, tastes like Kleenex. At least I only bought 4 of them, and their fuzzy siblings, the peaches on sale for the same price, are pretty good, at least the first one was.

[femmocrat]

1. Buying peaches and nectarines is like tossing the dice.

If you buy them when they are still hard, sometimes they just rot instead of ripening. I just pitched a whole bowl of bad peaches that looked and smelled great for about one day.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. eating seasonal/local is always the best bet - I like farmers markets because they are usually

pushing samples at you! If it is off season or transported long distances, few varieties of produce don't suffer from the trip or storage.

I find melons are often the toughest purchase - esp. Honeydews. We don't buy them much any more because getting hard/flavorless ones is about a 50/50 proposition.

[Texasgal]

4. Watermelon seems to be our issue.

We buy them and they are usually tasteless and bad.

I haven't had a GOOD watermelon in a long time.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. I've been buying the small round seedless ones at Trader Joe - 3.99 -

a few have been great, most are pretty good and if we get a bad one, they are happy to take it back and exchange it for another, no questions asked.

Best were the ones I grew in Pennsylvania - Moon and Stars, and Crimson Sweet. One farmer at our local market grows big orange seedless ones that are just incredible....we always look forward to their all-too-brief season!

[kentauros]

21. Even there it's been hit or miss,

and all too often a miss. I had better luck last year with watermelons, but the year before I had three of varying sizes all bad.

I haven't bought any this year, and it's about time I started the "trials"

[NRaleighLiberal]

25. the few bad ones we've gotten we've told them and they replace it no questions asked,

no receipt or the bad melon itself needed.

[kentauros]

26. I never considered that.

I'd probably have the receipt, but would be surprised if they wanted the melon back

[Texasgal]

3. I was so happy to see

some Texas peaches today at the store, the smelled good and were juicy and delicious! Only ONE time a year this happens. I bought a dozen!

[elleng]

6. Had one great nectarine last week,

and bought 2 more Friday and crossing fingers. I agree with you, its a real disappointment, especially because nectarines are my favorite fruit.

[Paulie]

7. We're growing strawberries in the back yard

They taste so much like strawberries, it's actually shocking. Gigantic berries in plastic containers taste like the containers they come in.

[Locut0s]

8. Fruit can be very hard to select...

As you've experienced the best looking fruit is no guarantee of the best taste.

Now the fruit in the tropics is another thing. MMMmmmmm... Orgasmic tasting fruit...

[KamaAina]

12. I was in my mid-thirties before I realized that bananas were supposed to taste like something.

Thtt's when I went to Hawai'i and had local ones with variety names like "apple" and "ice cream". Ono!

[Kali]

9. ugh I hear you

same here the other day - looked good, smelled good, good texture, no flavor

[vanlassie]

10. Apricots will break your heart.

I just can't stand the disappointment and so I just never buy them. White peaches are usually great, though, here in California.

[Locut0s]

15. Had some apricots a while back that were more sour than any lemon...

I've never had a lemon that sour in my life, I kid you not. Now a perfect apricot is heavenly, but like you said they are extremely hard to pick.

[vanlassie]

17. When you get them tree ripe, in the summer

there is necter inside where the pit is!

[Locut0s]

18. OMG yum! Good luck getting them in the store like that. nt

[vanlassie]

27. I guess I was spoiled as a child by my grandmas backyard tree!

[hopemountain]

24. haven't had a good apricot

in sooooo long. not since the early '90s. they were my favorite fruit.

[Chan790]

11. This is why I buy fruit from a store that only sells produce.

The guys that work there know their fruits and vegetables. They give a shit about their fruits and vegetables because it's their livelihood and if the delivery comes in and it's sub-par in any way...they refuse delivery. I can say "What's good today?" and if it's the nectarines, they're heaven-kissed. If I pick something up and it's less than ideal...they won't sell it...maybe to the fuckwit yuppie who treats them like shit...but not to me.

I find that small-specialty dedication carries through the entire food-sales industry. Yes, it's harder shopping like this where you buy produce from the greengrocer, bread from the bakery, meat (I rarely buy meat as I'm a vegetarian...I cater though so when I buy meat, it's for clients.) from the butcher, dairy from the dairyman, spice from the tea-and-spice merchant; the only thing I ever buy in the supermarket are pre-pack items. My grocery bills are higher but it's the cost I pay for real food.

[Locut0s]

20. Smart guy. nt

[RILib]

13. roses with no scent

Those David Austin roses are the worst. Or a catalog says fragrant, and it means slightly lemon or some &^%$# thing.

[Liberal Veteran]

22. I hate roses that don't smell. Even worse, I hate that crap they spray on fake roses.

I like the smell of natural roses, but that abomination they spray on fake roses makes my nose run and my eyes burn.

[Wait Wut]

14. I gave up on navel oranges.

I live in Arizona, right next to freakin' California. You'd think we could get a decent freakin' orange.

No. I got better in Chicago. Probably came from Florida. I have no idea. They were bigger, better, sweeter and just all around awesomer.

I did get some killer red grapes at Costco, though! I had to buy 15lbs of them (slight exaggeration), but they taste like candy!

[jakeXT]

16. Dragon Fruit ?

[Locut0s]

19. Indeed looks like it's going to be ambrosia, reality =

a wiki that's been bleached and sent through a dryer

It has its uses though.

[Liberal Veteran]

23. Cherries are a crap shoot at times.

Bing cherries are the worst for every single one looking scrumptious and yet half of them taste like crap.