Mouldy peaches

we're not allowed to touch at the green grocer. you just get what they put in the bag! I usually inspect once I get home and separate the ones that are more firm than others.

Gosh I wouldn't like that!  I know in some cultures -- can't remember if it was Spain or France, maybe both(?), you don't touch but you're relying on the shop person to select the best ones for you.  Here I am used to checking it out.  And what's the big deal anyway?  You wash the fruit when you get home - you know what I mean?

I keep citrus in the refrigerator here - otherwise they go off.

Gosh I wouldn't like that!  I know in some cultures -- can't remember if it was Spain or France, maybe both(?), you don't touch but you're relying on the shop person to select the best ones for you.  Here I am used to checking it out.  And what's the big deal anyway?  You wash the fruit when you get home - you know what I mean?

I keep citrus in the refrigerator here - otherwise they go off.

I don't think I would like not being able to pick my own fruit either. I now keep my apples & oranges in the fridge.

I find it's hit or miss. Yeah, it goes off quicker here, but that may be because they use less preservatives on them! Or the weather. Who knows?!

I always touch and smell the fruit before I buy it -- don't others?  Even if it's pre-packaged you can still eyeball it closely, give it a poke, etc.  For soft fruits, I more often find them too hard -- but that's better than on the verge of rotting. 

That's the thing. I buy fruit when it's still hard, thinking that I will give it a chance to ripen and soften- but as soon as it starts getting soft enough to eat, it starts to turn mouldy. There doesn't seem to be any in-between time when the fruit is neither hard nor rotten. (Perhaps it's edible for a few hours during the day when I'm not home.)

Hmm, maybe it is caused by more damp homes or fewer preservatives.

Yes, the peaches tend to go quickly, like you're saying.  Maybe putting them in the fridge would help (once they've begun to soften a bit)?  I just try to eat them (cutting off the overly ripe bits if I need to) or get them into a PIE!!!

I buy fruit from my greengrocer, but lately I have noticed that it all goes moldy a lot faster than the fruit from the supermarket, which leads me to believe that perhaps the fruit the greengrocer buys from their wholesalers perhaps is the sort of "seconds" from when the supermarkets choose their (unripe) fruit.

However, from the supermarket, I have noticed that if I buy a punnet of peaches (say) there is always one moldy one hidden in the middle. Its a pain in the backside!!!

we're not allowed to touch at the green grocer. you just get what they put in the bag!

That's terrible! 

Another thing that I find strange is that peaches and plums are sometimes advertised as "crisp" here. I don't want peaches or plums to be crisp, like apples, I expect them to be soft and melt in your mouth. To me, if a peach or plum is crisp, then it's not ready to be eaten yet.

Hard peaches/plums are the only kind I can bring myself to eat.  I love hard plums, they are more flavourful in my opinion and don't dribble down my chin 

Usually I get my fruit from the greengrocers (which is about 10 miles away, no greengrocer in Inverness!) and I haven't had a mould problem but that's probably because they get eaten pretty quickly.  I imagine damp weather would have an effect on some fruits.

Hard peaches/plums are the only kind I can bring myself to eat.  I love hard plums, they are more flavourful in my opinion and don't dribble down my chin.

Ewwww - hard peaches & plums?!  No way!  Steve bought some local plums at the green grocer this week, they are still hard & they are simply awful.

I second that. I couldn't imagine eating hard peaches and plums. They're supposed to be juicy.

I know a couple other English people who prefer hard fruit. The idea just makes me shudder!!!

And along those lines...bananas!  I know so many people -- both here & there -- who eat their bananas still almost a bit green, or just after they have turned yellow (and only just!).  That's how my mom ate bananas, so I grew up thinking - God those are awful!  I hate bananas!

Until I went to Rio once on holiday & saw people eating bananas that were already turning brown.  Now granted, these were different bananas, but all of a sudden the lightbulb went on!

I do like bananas!  I'd just been eating them unripe over my lifetime, up until that point.  Bananas aren't ready to be eaten until they are starting to get some brown spots on them & the more the better!  My DH and I are in complete disagreement on this, as are many people at work with me -- but that's fine, I've got them trained now to bring me their RIPE bananas, when these people actually think the bananas have gone off & they've only started to get a few brown spots.  Weirdos!

 I have a load of plums still on the tree in the garden, and once picked they are delicious, come to think of it i have loads of apples as well, shame they are bramleys though ,anyone want any lol

I have a load of plums still on the tree in the garden, and once picked they are delicious, come to think of it i have loads of apples as well, shame they are bramleys though ,anyone want any lol

Oh now Bramleys are lovely to cook things with, whiteknight_gb!  I even ate one or two last year & they weren't too bad!

(Eddie Izzard's take on fruit and supermarkets )
 best part is just after 5 min. when he starts talking about pears