Hello hello,
This week, the boxes were sent out a day late. It might seem like waiting a day is a long time, but that's just how it is. In the fields, a single day can change everything.
When a fruit asks for one more day, you have to give it that day, because later you'll taste the difference at home.
I'm telling you this, {nombre}, because people asked us: Does one day really make a difference in the harvest?
To illustrate this, I'm going to tell you about three fruits that we nurture, harvest, and then ship across Spain, always by order.
Let's go straight to the orchard…
The first example is a fruit that always gives us a headache, and even more so when the heat hits: the strawberry 🍓.
The color can fool you. A strawberry might look red and pretty on the outside but still be a bit bland inside if you pick it a day too early. The thing is, it doesn't get sweeter in the fridge. If it misses that day, it arrives looking good but with little flavor. And if you leave it one day too long, it gets soft and can't handle the journey.
It's like when you make a stew and taste it too soon. It smells good, yes, but it's not ready to dip bread in yet.
Let's move on to other fruits that are also red but different: cherries. With them, the story is different, because the cherry decides its ripeness on the tree. If you pick it too early, it's hard and too acidic. If you wait too long, it loses its crunch, and a silly rain can crack it, leaving you staring at the sky with a look of disbelief.
That's why you see us with a bucket in one hand and the other tasting fruit as if we were wine tasters. We look for that moment when the cherry is dark, juicy, and crunchy. Half a day's difference and it changes: you either get a seasonal delight or you have to sigh and start over 🍒
Let's go with the last one: the avocado. Avocados finish ripening off the tree. We pick them based on their fat content. If you pick it too early, it softens at home but remains watery and without that creaminess we all look for on toast. If you pick it when it has already done its homework on the tree, it turns into green butter in your fruit bowl. Here, time is on our side, but you can't fall asleep either, because the tree waits for no one.
And then there's the sky, which is like a boss who doesn't follow a schedule. A windy day and the trees sway, the fruits get bruised or fall, and you have to change plans on the fly. A day without sun and the sugar doesn't rise as it should.
You see a grey day and think of blankets and coffee. We see the color progressing, but the sweetness lagging behind. With a morning like that, we're already re-planning routes and crews. And if it dawns clear, we launch ourselves as if it were the Champions League final ⏳
All this sounds epic, but it's our daily life. You wake up not knowing what you're going to face. You might have planned to finish by midday, but it drags on until late because that ray of sun at five gives you the ripeness you've been waiting for.
We work as our grandparents did, with skill and patience, and at the same time with our phones buzzing to coordinate shipments, because our produce goes from the tree to your home without passing through cold storage. That's why we defend harvesting by order so much.
It's what allows us to get to the exact right moment so that the flavor reaches you intact.
I know that in the city everything rushes. Packages fly, and an hour up or down seems like an eternity. In the countryside, the plant dictates the rush. And when it asks for a day, that day is sacred.
It's respect for the land, for your palate, and for our work.
The good news is that this time the wait was worth it. That extra day gave us the harvests we needed.
Thank you for understanding that sometimes we choose ripeness over haste.
Thank you for supporting this handful of farmers who continue to harvest like artisans so that your table has true flavor.
A big hug and see you next week,
