Summer season is the perfect time for indulging on fruits. Isn't it heavenly tasting that just-picked sweet berry from the basket? And those oranges! Not all of us however, are blessed with our own orchard. We have to be satisfied with buying fruits from the supermarket or farmers markets if we're lucky to have them near us. But then we need to know which ones to choose. Someone was complaining in a forum how she was so disappointed with a fruit she bought. Those who know told her she should've waited for it to ripen more at home. Well, if we only had a little background on which fruits ripen when:

Not all fruit ripens after harvest. It may become softer, juicier, or less acidic, but its starches stop converting into sugar after it has been picked, so it's important to select good quality at the store (see following guide). Fruits that don't ripen further at home include berries, citrus fruit, grapes, and pineapples. They must be refrigerated or they will rot.

That's from a wonderful feature on choosing ripe or ripening fruits on the Christian Science Monitor. It covers apples, bananas, berries, cantaloupe, cherries, grapes, kiwis, oranges, peaches and nectarines, pears, pineapples, plums and watermelons.

Read on. You might even find the recipe for Fresh fruit trifle useful.