Distant Shore

Last night, I ate the very last apple from our 2023 crop - a Sturmer Pippin, "an important English apple in the Victorian period, esteemed because of its excellent keeping qualities", says the Orange Pippin website. Fair enough, though by late April, it was still edible, but definitely past its best. It may be unrelated, but MrsM declared that the shopping trip she planned today would include buying fruit. I think the happy memories of Italy are still lingering in her mind - we enjoyed these Galia melon as part of our breakfasts

We have visited Honduras, when our daughter was volunteering in San Pedro Sula - the city that the Daily Mail called "the murder capital of the world". We certainly saw a lot of guns, but did not experience anything alarming. The Agrolibano company operates a long way south of there, in the rich alluvial soil close to the tropical Gulf of Fonesca, which opens on to the Pacific. (Fonesca was a Spanish archbishop, who funded the conquistador who claimed the region for the empire). Just looking at pictures and Google satellite, it looks a fascinating place, full of deltas and mangrove swamps, as well as a lot of history of conflict: Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua all have coastline on the gulf, and the US has had interests there too, of course

I wondered how a melon got from southern Honduras to Chipping Norton; it was surprisingly difficult to find out, but I think the answer is temperature-controlled containers on cargo ships (and trucks, of course). The Agrolibano web site is proud of what they do:

"Each year more than 3,000 hectares are farmed, to harvest more than 4,100 containers (85,000 tons) of Melons, which are shipped to the most demanding customers in North America, Europe, Asia and The Middle East. After the melon harvest around 700 hectares of corn are grown in the same land, taking advantage of the remaining fertilizer; then after harvesting the corn a great amount of organic matter is left that subsequently benefit the melon crop. Melon production requires bee pollination, more than 3,000 beehives are needed, after their main job is done, they produce delicious honey."

This is how our world now works

I wonder why the melon skin has this complex, embossed pattern: how does it come about, and what is the advantage for the plant? I have no idea