We went for a drive in the countryside on a rainy Winter’s afternoon, but quickly pulled off to the side of the road when I spotted an orchard of amazing glowing orange fruit. We always travel with our cameras on the back seat, in case opportunities like this present themselves unexpectedly. I stepped out of the car to the amazing and happy songs of Tui birds feasting on what we discovered was a Persimmon orchard that was full of ripe and ready fruit about to be harvested. It truly was farmer vs birds, and I’m not quite sure who won that day, I’d like to think it was a happy tie ! The farmer was generous and friendly in true Kiwi character, happy for me to walk around his section and snap a bunch of pics. On top of explaining to me about Persimmons and sharing some friendly banter, he gave me some fresh persimmons to take home. I found that I love to eat them fresh and they ended up in a simple Radiccio salad with grapefruit, shaved fennel, radish, pistachio and pickled grapes. One of my pleasures is discovering and meeting new producers that live and farm just a stones throw from where I live. We really live in a spectacular country .
