Each fall the produce world goes through a transition, mainly in October. Local produce "deals" begin to wind down and the California and southern deals takes their place. The summer deals of 2007 started early in most every part of the country. This was advantageous for us in May thru July in that product whether it was tomatoes, or corn or melons or blueberries, etc started a bit early. The price we pay in that type of year is that products finish up early also, which is what we face now. Many domestic vegetable crops are showing signs of demand outstripping supplies. This means higher prices for those items.
Broccoli--if it weren't for our ability to obtain broccoli from a Michigan farmer, the price would be in the mid $20's. Let's hope he continues for awhile.
Tomatoes--local product is becoming scarce even with this warm weather. Romas, grape and cherry tomatoes, and slicers are all nudging up. We're not too happy with the quality of our slicing tomatoes, but the alternatives we've seen are poor. We'll keep slicing, tasting and looking for the best tomato we can find.
Cucumbers--vines begin to dry up and lose their vigor. A few local farmers have later planted fields which are producing some new product. Prices showing some strength.
Iceberg Lettuce--prices will approach $30 next week. Green leaf, red leaf and romaine are relatively stable, for now.
Strawberries--the Driscoll strawberries we've been carrying have been wonderful. Now there's some good news.
Asparagus--prices seem to be holding in the mid to high $20's, which is reasonable. Quality is excellent.
Sweet Corn--the local deal is about done. Shipped in corn seems to be a bit small.
Root Vegetables--this is the time of year when freshly dug root vegetables shine. Whether it's carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, rutabagas, or celery root, these plebian vegetables are a bargain. A bit of cold weather and a good frost will sweeten up and improve the flavor and texture of all root vegetables.
By the way, the above pictures of dried fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables, are from the same market in Barcelona.
Have a great weekend,
Rick
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( 2.9 / 82 )
The above pictures are of one of the best markets I've ever been to, which is in Barcelona. I'll tease you with other Barcelona pictures in future blogs, now that I've figured out how to incorporate pictures into the blogs. A bit of knowledge is truly dangerous.
Here is some current produce news
The asparagus market has finally fallen off as prices dip below $40. Peru's infrastructure is being repaired and it's easier to get product to the ports.
The avocado market follows suit as prices fall even further. Mexico is our choice for the best avocado at this time of the year.
Artichokes have entered their 2nd major season, spring being the first in volume. Availability is very good.
Hot weather keeps the tomatoes coming on. Watch out though, once the local seasons end, demand will outstrip supply and prices will rise in a hurry. This time of the year sees uncertainty in many commodities as local deals wind down. Stay tuned.
Red peppers are still a big, big, bargain. Prices dip further.
Curly and flat parsley is available from California which will hopefully reduce the gritty, dirty parsley problem. Bad parsley.
Have you tried our virtually stemless, large shittake cap. Great product!
Early season Florida and Texas oranges have just begun being harvested which is great news. This is because it won't be too long (about one month) before there is some relief in the price of our orange juice. Hurray!
This is the peak of the California grape season. Red, green and black grapes are currently all high in sugar and very tasty. They don't get much better than this. Prices creep higher as other fruits like peaches and nectarines wind down and grape demand increase.
That's it for now and we'll chat again soon.
Rick
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( 2.9 / 136 )Hard Shelled Squash--Most varieties are available from Michigan growers. The most popular varieties are butternut, acorn, buttercup, carnival, sweet dumpling, sweet potatoe squash, and hubbard. Most varieties should be reasonable in price and are usually available throughout October and into November.
Pumpkins--Pie Pumpkins, and jack-o-lanterns are just beginning to be harvested. Talk to us about decorating your tables for a fall look with Indian corn, gourds, jack be little pumpkins and an assortment of other ornamentals.
Pomegranates --the season has begun for this increasingly popular fruit. Early varieties are available for big bucks, like in the high $40's. I wish the pomegranate board would promote my business. Can you say antioxidant.
Zucchini --product is coming in from Georgia and other southern states to compete with the tail end of Michigan and New Jersey. Prices are even lower. A good buy!
Red Peppers --Christopher Ranch, the garlic people, are shipping California red peppers for a great price. Another good buy!
Tomatoes --this warm spell is ripening up what's left in the field. Prices of all verieties are stable or lower. One of the better tomatoes out there is baby roma tomatoes which have fallen off the vine. They're not always available, but they are tasty and reasonable. $10 for a 13 lb. case. Grill them or halve then in a salad.
I hope these blogs are giving you useful information,
Rick
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( 2.8 / 108 )Here's a look ahead at what the market reports say for next week
Lettuce --Prices are beginning to drop a bit for most varieties.
Mangos --Mexico is finishing up its season with the Keitt variety, which tastes better than it looks. After that we're forced into the Tommy Atkin variety from Brazil which looks better than it tastes.
Zucchini and Yellow Squash --prices are falling here also.
Blueberries --Full pints are about done as shippers begin packing in 1/2 pint containers. Prices are higher.
Asparagus --prices are even higher than last week.
Avocados --good news here as prices begin to fall.
Strawberries --market is stable and quality seems a bit better.
Cantaloupes --California is finishing up and product will move down to Arizona. This should improve the quality.
Green Peppers--prices seem to be firming up as Michigan's crop begins to decrease slightly.
Tomatoes--Virtually a repeat of last week. Romas should be down a tad.
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( 2.8 / 59 )One of the things representative of Autumn in the northern U.S. is apple cider and donuts. People often make a family outing by visiting their favorite apple orchard to "pick their own" and to enjoy fresh apple cider and cider donuts.
Frog Holler is proud to carry Hy's Apple Cider. Jimmy Goldstein, the proprietor, has really figured out how to flash pasteurize his cider without losing flavor or being reduced to a clear juice. We've been supplying Hy's Cider to Ann Arbor for over 20 years now. The best cider is usually a blend of sweet and tart apples. Currently, Jimmy is blending macintosh, cortlands and galas. As other varieties mature, they too will be added to make a more complex juice.
So why is it nearly impossible to find unpasteurized cider anymore? You may remember back in the late 1980's and mid 90's the apple industry got hit by back to back incidents that rocked apple growers around the country. The first was the alar scare. Alar was a growth regulator that to my memory was used to keep fruit on the tree longer to gain maturity and color. When fed in massive doses to mice, they developed tumors. A huge public outcry ensued after Sixty Minutes, Meryl Streep and others set off what amounted to a nationwide panic in regard to alar and its effects on the food supply. Alar was shortly taken off the market. The apple industry lost over $500 million in decreased sales and many growers couldn't recover. I looked for some information online today and I found some articles written years after the alar scare. I quote, "for humans to be exposed to equivalent high doses (of straight alar), they would have to eat a box-car-load of apples each day." Another report says for alar to have been verified as a human carcinogen, lab tests would require drinking 5000 gallons of apple juice per day. If my memory serves me well there was a bigger outcry over the alar scare than the recent E. coli outbreak caused by spinach.
The other incident was when in the mid 90's there were two incidents of E. coli contaminated unpasteurized apple cider, which made several people sick. This really changed the cider industry from a cottage industry to a business and altered how cider was allowed to be pressed. Before the incident, farmers were allowed to use drops ( apples which have fallen on the ground ), didn't have to wash apples in a solution before pressing and didn't have to pasteurize to kill potential pathogens. Also, there was little awareness of the harm that cattle and other farm animals had in spreading E.coli and other diseases. Originally it was thought the acidity of apple juice would not allow bacteria to grow, but we were mistaken. As a result of all this, few growers could afford to take the risk of not pasteurizing their cider. About the only place you can find unpasteurized cider is at a cider mill where sales are directly from farmer to consumer.
Back in Romeo, Michigan at Hy's Cider, Jimmy had to change over his whole operation. Expensive new equipment was purchased in order to begin to pasteurize and maintain the quality we were used to. It took a year or two to work out the bugs, but since then Hy's Cider once again reminds you that Fall is here.
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