Veggies!

Oh, don't hold your breath, Dahlia. Bananas are much more vowel-oriented; "blett" has a very high C/V ratio. Anyway, let us know what the bananas say, if anything.

Well I have been smoozed: Earlier Tonght:
DH: I'm gonna chuck the bananas
Dahlianut: No please wait cuz they are bletting to become banana bread
DH: When will they be um done?
Dahlianut: When they say 'blett'
DH: (gives the look and walks away)
Later:
Dahlianut: Where are the bananas?
DH: In the compost
Dahlianut: :O
DH: The bananas told me "We are rotten. Please put us out of our misery in the compost.

OK DH is obviously getting very smartie!

Crikey! I'm still looking things up: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/11/HOG5JHJFSQ1.DTL

p.s.don't want a medlar...

Dahlia, you should have hidden those black bananas in the freezer - that's what I do. Then when you actually have time to make the banana bread, let them partially thaw, snip off the end, & squeeze the banana mush into a bowl - no mashing required.

On a positive note: at least they went into the compost & not the trash.

Hmmm. Sometimes cutsie gets a DH's ire up.

Lisabees, that is brilliant!

I had to laugh at the medlar tree. That guy didn't like them at all, but rare fruit lovers seem to really go for them. I don't want one either, but I think there is a certain strong bias in this article. I don't think they are as bad as he makes out.
I am familiar with persimmons which have to be ripe to the point of mushiness to be edible. I have a persimmon tree at the farm and can't say the fruit is all that fabulous to eat, but it is absolutely beautiful on the tree -- brilliant orange in the winter when there isn't a lot of color. The deer do eat it so humans have to take care to get it before the deer do. My friends in Mississippi cut open ripe persimmons and pour cream and sugar on them and love eating them with a spoon. And they make persimmon pie. And I guess their ripening process is probably bletting.
Well, I have really enjoyed all your research on bletting and quinces and everything else. I enjoy growing rare fruits too -- hence the quince which is getting pretty rare these days. I also have a Wickson crab apple which is a rare heirloom crab apple that is supposed to be very tasty. So far it is too young to bear fruit, but maybe next year. A local tree farm grower has asked for scionwood from it. When it has enough new growth to be useful I will give him some. He offered me any tree I want in exchange, but frankly I need a tree like I need another iris!
I am also growing Gingergold and Honeycrisp apples which aren't all that common either, but are supposed to have superior taste and to grow well here in New Mexico. So far, they too are too young to bear.

I believe that with further research we will actually discover that raisins, in fact, somewhere in the world, go with anything.

I almost said they do not go with blackeyed peas, but then I thought, oh yes they do.

See?

Many things that actually do not go together, however, would in fact begin to go together were they properly bletted.

This is just a working hypothesis.

Here's the whole problem: Some things are unblettable.

LOL! Yes! I agree with you there, on things in general!

Specifically, so far my Seckel pears are. I planted Seckel pears because they are reputed to be incredibly sweet and self fertile. Well, they are sweet if you catch them at the right point in their bletting. So far, I have only done that in 1 out of 20 seckel pears. Nor to the folks who sell at the farmers' market seem to know how to blet them. I bought some there to see if they were any better than mine and they were only marginally so. I asked the farmers there when to pick them and, as far as I can tell, they don't really know either. Next time I will forget the exotic and plant a bartlett or comice.
The problem with pear trees is that you have to start planting them when you are young to succeed in finding out which ones are good and which ones aren't worth it by the time you are old and in time to get some good ones. Maybe I am just a little frustrated with pear trees. They are attractive, though.

Think how good they'll be when you figure it out pajarito. Advice on the internet was to pick them when mature (not necessarily ripe) and let them ripen at room temp.

So mature and ripe are different?

Hmmph. Too many distinctions in English.
Mature and ripe are the same word in French: mûr(e)

English does have a lot of words for making very fine distinctions. If only we were better and using them! I am surprised that the French don't make the same distinction as English speakers. There is a difference between ripe and mature. It's just that English-speakers often miss the fine points, as I see it.

Mature and ripe are different. Mature means the fruit is fully formed but has not necessarily become its most colorful and luscious self. I agree this is an unusual use of the word, because we -- or I -- tend to think of "mature" meaning "at the peak of its growth cycle" but for fruits a distinction has been made. You cannot really successfully ripen off the plant a fruit that is not fully formed -- i.e., mature -- but you can do with one that is. Tomatoes, for instance.

Thanks for the explanation, Kyla. I get it. You can pick a tomato which has started to show a little red, pink or even yellow and it will ripen to red. However if you pick a tomato green, without any show of color, it will not really ever be all that tasty.
Now I have to learn to recognize in seckel pears and quinces, when they have reached maturity so I can take them in to ripen. I guess this is subtle. Darn it! I wanted it to be easy!

I think, actually, a tomato can still be totally green colored but fully formed and will ripen nicely though many think the flavor suffers too much for it to be worth the bother. But if the inner structure is not fully formed, then, "they say", it will not ripen.

I happen to be testing this out as I had lots of tomatoes that got frosted and the plants are gone, but a few of the fruit looked close enough to completely formed......... I will let you know how it goes.

Have no idea how to tell for sure but I'm sure someone knows.......... and yeah, it probably is subtle. ;-)

Yep, fully formed is what was referenced with the term mature. I suppose you could say teenagers are physically mature, but their character needs to develop a while.

I think I read somewhere that human brains are not fully developed until mid-20's. ( Or ever. )

There is probably a technical definition out there that has to do with the production of viable seeds, I imagine. Now that you mention teenagers. LOL!

Roybird, I vote with not ever, particularly when it comes to mine.

It appears my brain has gone to seed..................

My brain is bletting. Good night!

Well, I don't know how you can sleep if Picante's brain is reproducing itself!

I mean, this must mean something, no?

anyway, sweet bletts, Roybird.

You all are too funny. Right on about the teenagers -- having taught them for 13 years, I totally agree. The question about whether our brains ever mature is a good one. I vote for not. I think bletting is a good term for what is happening in my brain. Brain going to seed? Could be a good thing in the long run.

Snorkle! I don't think the seeds are germinating.

Something could be said about alien spawn growing in our heads and taking over, but I won't say that.

It's a good thing too cause we won't read it or listen to it either.

Anyway I think whatsisname, Colin Wilson maybe, already said it in some old novel called Mind Parasites, but I can't remember it very well and may have made that all up.

I suppose there have been a number of stories with that theme. Just trying to explain weird observed reality with science fiction analogy.

Raising teenagers is enough to make us all believe in weirdos from outer space. Unfortunately, the weirdos tend to be our off spring or neighborhood kids who used to be perfectly nice. No wonder this gives rise to speculation about aliens. These critters are true aliens, but mostly we discover they are not from outer space.

So glad my son is grown now...

You are so right on, Brenda! Clearly your kids have grown up to be perfect ( well almost) citizens and I am quite certain you had something to do with that. Those monsters from outer space return to civilization from time to time -- mostly very different from those who went out to see, swimming.

I chose to only have one pregnancy and one baby in my life, Paja, and yes, he is an amazing young man now. Hooray!

Guess I was thinking of your son's fellow actor in the Gladiator film when I said "kids". Guess you only get credit for the one. They were both hilarious.

That's funny Paja, because I call him my "other son"... that's Mike, and he's a great young man also.

You could tell from the video. Two peas in a pod. Both adorable.

Your son is a movie star, Brenda?! I missed that thread!

Not a movie star yet... but on his way! I can't re-post the video at the moment because it is entered in the L.A. Film Festival so they can't have it everywhere until they find out what happens there. When I can, I will... ^_^

Oh good! That will be fun to see.

Ok I'm so excited for you dear Brenda I can't stand it!!!