Allyson Whipple

Tag: fruit

  • An Assortment of Summer Produce

    An Assortment of Summer Produce

    This month, I wanted to do something more in line with a saijiki such as William J. Higginson’s Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac. While in many posts I’ve been listing all the seasons in sections, this time, I want to just focus on summer food kigo. Summer is one of the peak times for produce, and that really comes through in the haiku I’ve collected so far.

    Tomatoes

    All. Depending on where you live, tomatoes can start fruiting as early as May (early summer in the Lunar calendar, late spring in the Gregorian calendar) and last until October. Heirloom or conventional, green or red, tomatoes are a staple summer food.

    tomato plant
    green on green
    the hornworm

    Christa Pandey, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 6
    A meme with a halved tomato and a whole tomato that reads, "Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. Philosophy is wondering if that means ketchup is a smoothie."

    at summer’s end
    green tomatoes . . .
    heating the frying pan

    Kathleen Tice, [poetry pea]

    Berries

    Mid-Late. Berry brambles tend to start fruiting in June, and depending on the berry and geography, peak in July or August. If you’re trying to forage for wild berries, you have to check caches regularly. It’s a waiting game, but once they’re finally ready to harvest, the season seems all too fleeting. When foraging for wild berries in Illinois, my partner and I have occasionally missed the peak harvest by a matter of days.

    our talk of the patriarchy
    a buck strips a bush
    of its berries

    Mary Stevens, Kingfisher 3
    blueberries and strawberries in white ceramic bowl
    Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

    ripe berries . . .
    the purpling
    of her fingertips

    Kim Klugh, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 6

    going back
    for more blueberries
    summer sky

    Brad Bennett, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 6

    First strawberries
    —Never taste
    Like the first time

    Anna Maria Domburg-Sancristoforo, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 10

    Stone Fruits

    Peaches. Mid-Late. Depending on location, peach trees usually start to fruit in June, and can last until October. They’re a popular summer dessert, whether fresh with cream, or baked into a pie. While the state of Georgia (USA) is one of the most best-known places for peaches, Illinois, Missouri, and Texas also have excellent varieties.

    slicing a peach . . .
    the color of
    my cancer ribbon

    Jason Furtak, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 6

    Cherries. All. Different varieties of cherries connote different parts of the summer season. Sweet cherries tend to fruit from May to August, while tart cherries often don’t make their appearance until June. They’re another fruit that does well as a dessert, enjoyed either fresh or baked into a pie.

    black cherry dewdrop full of sky

    Craig Kittner, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 6
    two red cherries on brown surface
    Photo by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto on Pexels.com

    from the same tree
    my wife and sparrow
    lunch cherries

    Zrinko Šimunić, Haikuniverse, June 15th, 2022

    Mango. All. Due to globalization, fresh mangos are often available in grocery stores year-round. The first time I ever encountered a mango was at a grocery store in Austin, in the middle of February . . . and they were on special. However, in their actual climate, mangoes fruit as early as May and usually last until August.

    first bite of mango
    summer flowing down
    my chin

    Rick Daddario, Charlotte DiGregorio’s Writer’s Blog, May 11, 2022

    eating sticky rice
    with mango
    holiday romance

    Louise Hopewell, Failed Haiku #76

    Miscellaneous Produce

    Basil. All. Basil is a popular herb to enjoy in the summer. It pairs nicely with the aforementioned tomatoes as part of a Caprese salad or bruschetta for a light summer meal. As it moves toward the transition stage of its life cycle, it starts to produce flowers, which need to be pinched back if you want to keep harvesting the leaves.

    basil blossoms
    a door closes
    behind me

    Eufemia Griffo, Seashores, November 2021

    Melon. All. As with much of the other produce mentioned here, when specific melons are in season depends on variety and geography (not to mention climate change). However, in general, a melon can be ready to harvest as early as May, and the season last through the summer into September. Watermelon is popular at summer picnics, wrapped in proscuitto as part of an antipasto spread, or blended into an agua fresca.

    even here
    battered by red dust
    the melon’s coolness

    Joshua Gage, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 6
    An assortment of foraged wild mushrooms.
    An assortment of foraged wild mushrooms, including porcini, chicken of the woods, and chanterelle

    Mushrooms. All. Realistically, it might be better to list mushrooms as an all-year word, and use specialized names to denote the season, as mushrooms have a wide growing season, depending on variety. I initially placed mushrooms in summer because of the abundance of porcini, chicken of the woods, and chanterelle mushrooms John and I harvest in July and August. However, morels are in season in mid-late spring, and many Japanese varieties are at their best in the fall. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!

    carved names
    in a city tree
    mushrooms

    Deborah P. Kolodji, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 10

    Wild grapes. Late. Like mushrooms, wild grapes might better be considered a multi-season kigo, with specific varieties use to specify the season. I initially chose late summer based on my own memories of seeing wild grapes fruiting and being eaten later in the summer on bird counts with the Travis Audubon Society. However, there are also varieties of grapes, both wild and domestic, that come into season during fall and winter. Again, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions in the comments!

    between the birds and me
    the wild-grape hulls
    are empty

    David Oates, Haiku Pea Podcast, Series 5, Episode 10

    Zucchini. Mid-Late. Zucchini usually comes into season in June, and can fruit well into August. It’s known for being particularly abundant with relatively little effort, with households sometimes struggling to use it all up or give it away to neighbors. Zucchini bread is a popular way to use excess crop.

    zucchini
    hidden in the foliage
    another loaf

    Lillian Nakamura, Stratified Layers: Haiku Canada Members’ Anthology, 2022

    Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this format and would like to see more of it! In addition, if you know of someone who could help me with sound editing problems for the August 2nd podcast episode, please let me know!

  • Initial Observations Part 3: Seasonal Modifiers

    In my May 10th post, I noted that I have observed three broad categories of food words in haiku:

    1. Food words that are a definite seasonal referent;
    2. Food words that are not a part of any specific season;
    3. Food words that become seasonal with an additional modifying word

    In the May 10th post, I also wrote about the first category. In the May 24th post, I focused on the second category. Today, I’m wrapping up the series by discussing the third category.

    As of this writing, I’ve collected 140 haiku and senryu related to food. Based on my initial collections, category #3 represents the smallest proportion of haiku I’ve collected thus far.

    Winter

    Ginger cookies on a metal rack
    Ginger cookies fresh from the oven. One of my favorites!

    So far, winter contains the highest proportion of foods that become seasonal through a modifying word. My hypothesis is that because in the northern hemisphere, winter is the holiday season, a time when we’re often making special foods (such as Christmas cookies) that otherwise might fit all year. A chocolate chip or peanut butter cookie might show up in spring or fall (and even summer if you’re willing to turn on the oven). Christmas cookies, on the other hand, tend to be more elaborate, and some people make half a dozen different kinds. And while they’re festive, when juxtaposed with the right image, they can create a sense of melancholy. In Robert Witmer’s haiku below, I get a sense of loneliness.

    baking Christmas cookies
    the black and white TV
    snows all night

    Robert Witmer, bottle rockets #46

    Likewise, holidays have their own particular candy. Christmas has (among other things) candy canes. Homemade candy in the form of fudge, taffy, peanut brittle, or buckeyes is common as well. While Christa Pandey’s haiku uses the generic “holiday sweets,” I see this as a winter or Christmas poem. The second and third lines, referencing the old country, make me think of homemade confections passed down from generations. In my experience, homemade Christmas candy is a little more common than homemade Easter, Valentine’s Day, or Halloween candy.

    holiday sweets
    last reminders
    of the old country

    Christa Pandey, Failed Haiku #70

    Spring

    Spring holidays also have their own candy. The empty heart in the first line modifies chocolates in the second line. Chocolate could appear at any time of the year, but chocolates that come from a heart-shaped box connect to Valentine’s Day.

    an empty heart
    the chocolates
    all gone

    Line Monique Gauthier, bottle rockets #46

    I admit that it was challenging for me to list a Valentine’s Day poem in spring. In the haiku calendar, Valentine’s Day falls in early spring. Certainly in Texas, where I’ve lived for 14 years, Valentine’s Day can feel like spring (Snowpocalypse 2021 aside). But in many other parts of the country (and the world!) Valentine’s Day still feels like deep winter Still, for the sake of tradition, I’m including it here.

    Photo by Ksenia Chernaya on Pexels.com

    Robert Witmer’s poem connects to spring because the word blue brings to mind a robin’s egg. In fact, when I put it into my saijiki database, I wasn’t entirely sure it could be considered a cooking poem; perhaps it was simply a haiku about a robin hatching. However, when I read it, I also couldn’t stop thinking about the fresh chicken eggs I used to get from a friend’s back yard. They were typically smaller than grocery store eggs, and also came in a range of colors, including blue and green. This could be a hatching poem, a cooking poem, or both.

    breaking
    a small blue egg
    birdsong

    Robert Witmer,

    Autumn

    Photo by Tembela Bohle on Pexels.com

    In Haiku World, William J. Higginson lists beer as a summer kigo. I was surprised by that, and although upon thinking about it I don’t think he’s entirely wrong, I don’t entirely agree either. There are so many styles of beer, and some are more appropriate for certain seasons than others. For example, I wouldn’t drink a port or a stout in summer—they’re too heavy, and best saved for winter. Lagers, pilsners, and shandies are best for summer. Sue Foster points to the tradition of Oktoberfest, turning beer into an autumn kigo. While I understand Higginson’s rationale (an ice-cold lager is exceptionally delicious) after a day of yard work, my opinion is that beer is an all-year term, and it requires either modifiers or specific names to ground it in a season.

    fierce Texas sun beats down
    Texas thirst meets iced
    Oktoberfest beer

    Sue Foster, Lifting the Sky: Southwestern Haiku and Haiga, ed. Scott Wiggerman and Constance Campbell.

    Summer

    Photo by Zen Chung on Pexels.com

    Adelaide B. Shaw’s poem is perhaps my favorite example I’ve collected for this post, in part because it made me learn something new. Apples are normally an autumn kigo. I’d never heard of a windfall apple, so I looked it up. I learned that windfall apples are fruits that appear early, dropping as early as June! I realized I’d come across windfall apples already in my life, I just didn’t realize it. At my partner’s family farm, one of the apple trees was producing abundant fruit last July; I picked a fresh green one to use in my Fourth of July coleslaw. The modifying word “windfall” places this poem squarely in the summer season.

    windfall apples
    in my pockets
    enough for a pie

    Adelaide B. Shaw, bottle rockets #46

    If you have any thoughts about seasonal modifiers for food, please let me know in the comments. I appreciate hearing from you! Don’t forget that the Culinary Saijiki podcast launches on June 21st!