After we savored the cool texture and subtle taste of our frozen strawberries, Kon let out a big exhale. His tiny frame trembled slightly.
Oh. Maybe that amount of frozen strawberries was too much for his small body… Has the cold gotten to him? Concerned, I gingerly reached out a hand and touched his small hands and forehead, but they didn’t feel particularly cold. In fact, possibly due to his fur, they even felt hot to the touch. It seemed that the frozen strawberries had been a slight surprise to his body, which had been hotter than a normal human’s, causing it to briefly shiver.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, I commented, “I thought the frozen strawberries were too cold for you, but your body temperature is so high that mere frozen treats can’t put a damper on it at all. With such a high body temperature and a luscious coat of fur, I feel like you’re going to struggle when it’s midsummer.” Since I was already touching his forehead, my hands moved up and patted his head lightly.
Kon closed his eyes contently, his ears twitching minutely as he replied, “It’s not that bad since I’m going to change into my summer coat soon. But I guess it’s a bit of a struggle, yeah. It’s what I have to deal with every single year though, so I’m pretty much prepared.”
He added, “When it’s super-duper hot, Techi will set up a pool at the rest area near the orchard. We’ll jump in to cool down, come out and work hard, then dive in again. We make sure to bring our water bottles, and even if we forget them, Techi will prep all kinds of things just in case, so we’ve never lost the battle against the summer heat before!”
That was news to me. “A pool, huh? That’s smart. True, if you can dip in a pool from time to time, it should help a lot. A normal human would probably catch a cold because they’ll get too cold in the wind, but I guess you guys are fine because you’ve got your fur to help you out? Techi even makes sure you are properly hydrated…” I nodded to myself. “Yep, Techi definitely goes in thoroughly prepared.”
As if he’d been the one receiving the praise, Kon nodded happily. “When it’s summer—well, more like just before summer, which is now, the bugs get all energetic. This is also the most important period of our work! The chestnuts and walnuts grow bigger and yummier as autumn creeps up, so that’s when the bugs strike! We gotta swat all of them down! Some even secretly cut open holes inside the nuts and lay their eggs inside, so it’s seriously hectic in summer. Sometimes, we even do day and night shifts to protect the trees. Hmm, our busiest times are probably from summer to autumn.”
“N-Night shift?!” I blurted. “Y-You go that far?! Working night shifts at your age?! Actually, is that even allowed?!”
“Yep, it’s perfectly fine!” Kon beamed at me. “It’s not like we do it every single day! Plus, it’s also a chance for all of us to hang out and have fun until late at night, so it’s super exciting! Daddy said that it’s something like a field trip or a training camp, and that I should do my best!”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “O-Oh, so that’s how it is. It’s not completely work, you see it more as recreation, huh? True, summer is iconic as a season for camps and festivals, so that would be kind of fun. Still… I see, I never knew all of you work so, so hard… In that case, maybe I should prepare something too, like refreshments or snacks.”
I fell into a contemplative silence, and I was so absorbed that my hand, which had been stroking Kon’s head, stilled. Seeing that, Kon moved away from my hand, shook his body vigorously from head to toe, then used his tiny paws to pat down his somewhat disheveled fur.
“If you want to bring refreshments, something cold would be awesome!” Kon chirped. “Like juice or ice cream! It can get somewhat chilly at night, but it’s humid and boiling most of the day, so we’ll get all sweaty when we work. Something that’ll help us cool right down like the frozen strawberries just now would be perfect. Oh, it would be even better if you went ahead and made frozen fruits, Mikura! If you use good fruits and freeze them carefully, they’ll become much tastier than the ones we had just now, right?”
I blinked and considered it. “Ah, hmm… Yeah, I guess I could. The freezer unit I’ve got in the warehouse is commercial grade—I can freeze fruits rapidly and preserve the flavors. It’s not my personal hobby, but I’m very open to making some for you and your friends. I’ve made things like ice cream and sherbet before, and now, if we add frozen fruits to the menu… I think that should make a nice list of refreshments?”
“It would be very awesome!” Kon beamed, looking at me with innocent eyes shining with anticipation. “If you’re the one making them, they’ll be amaaazing!”
Frankly, the taste of frozen fruits was highly dependent on the taste of the fruit itself—you couldn’t get something that was more delicious than the ingredients you used. Therefore, it didn’t matter who was making them. But Kon had so much faith and hope in me—frozen fruits weren’t my thing, but I could never say no to Kon.
There’s a chance that as I search up recipes on the Internet, I might find methods to add taste to the frozen fruits. Who knows? Let’s give this a shot!
I repeat, I didn’t have much of an appreciation for making frozen fruits. That said, I often needed to use fridges and freezers when I made preserves. In fact, I had several jars of jam stored inside the fridge. When I make umeboshi, the fridge is also my good companion. Preserves and fridges are practically inseparable, but for some reason, I’ve never stepped into the field of frozen preserves until now.
Well, maybe not for some reason. I know why. I was convinced that I’m not interested in them and that they don’t fit my definition of preserves, so I haven’t even done any research on them. Better late than never, as they say. This was a good opportunity to learn about something new, and if I could make the kids happy, it was extremely worthwhile.
I was the owner of the orchard, and these children were even doing night shifts to protect my orchard. I owed them this much, at the very least.
The question was, what kind of fruits should I use? Let’s see… I still see strawberries in the supermarket, and blueberries are in season too. Both should be nice options. Then there’re watermelons—hang on, are they even an option? They’ve got so much water in them that I don’t think freezing them will yield good results… Other than that, maybe pineapples would work? Ah, I see a lot of frozen lychees and grapes on display, I could think about those… And of course, you’ve got to have Satsuma mandarins—they are a classic.
No, Mikura, don’t get carried away. I shook my head. Grapes are obviously out of season, so I need to think more carefully about this. Hmm… Fruits in season, fruits in season… Oh yeah, that reminds me. There’s a certain fruit that should be in season soon.
A flash of inspiration struck me. It’s a highly versatile fruit that is delectable fresh, delectable as jam, delectable in all kinds of recipes, and delectable as frozen fruit. Yes, you guessed it: cherries. If there was a ranking for fruits you’d buy on impulse whenever you chance upon them in a supermarket, cherries would definitely make it into the top three. Once you start eating them, you can’t stop—they’re fruits with a mysterious allure.
I was confident that the children would love frozen cherries. Furthermore, I could even use the extra to make desserts such as cherry pie. Yeah, it’s a great option.
Nodding to myself with determination, I stood up. It was still all up in the air—I didn’t know whether I was going to freeze cherries in the end. What was important right now was that thinking about cherries made me crave them like crazy, so I made the preparations to visit the supermarket and buy some right away.