Get a load of this Tomato!

TOMATOES (Monday, April 7): April is Florida Tomato Month. This time of year, our tomatoes will be coming from one of two main growing regions: Florida and Mexico. As we move into late April or early May, we will start getting some other domestic supplies from California. Prices for most of the winter have been higher than normal, mainly due to freezing in Florida and bad weather in Mexico as well. Supplies all winter long have been tight. Expect more up and down supplies and quality through the Spring. Remember to store your tomatoes with the stem end up. And never in a million years should you refrigerate your unripe tomato. Cold kills flavor. It stops the ripening process. Once a tomato is FULLY ripened, you can then refrigerate it, but really not more than just a few days. Also, the chemicals in a tomato that make up its flavor, will dissipate within 15 minutes when you cut into the tomato. Therefore, slice your tomato just before you use them.

Ripen your Kiwifruit with patience…and a paper bag

KIWIFRUIT (Tuesday, April 8): You will be noticing a big difference in Kiwifruit right now. The difference is in how ripe they are. We are just ending California supplies. At the end of their season, the fruit was very mature and ripe, usually ready to eat when you bought it at the store. But now, with California fruit basically finished, new crop fruit is starting to come in from Chile, followed in just a few months by new crop fruit from New Zealand. The new crop fruit will be quite hard. It will ripen, but you had better be patient with it. Buy your Kiwifruit well in advance of when you want to use it. Place it in a brown paper bag and put it out on your counter at room temperature. The magic of the brown paper bag will help ripen the fruit. Be patient. The new crop will take a few days longer to ripen.

RED BELL PEPPERS (Wednesday, April 9): They are the fully ripened bell pepper, the Red Bell Pepper. Sweeter, juicy and absolutely loaded with Vit. A and C. During the winter and spring months, Florida and Mexico are the main Red Bell Pepper suppliers for the U.S. That means when adverse weather affects one growing region, you're affecting a huge supply. That's why Red Bell Pepper prices during this time of year are higher, and much more volatile. Since the Red Bell is virtually a Green Bell allowed to ripen on the plant, supplies generally will peak after supplies of Green Bells have peaked. Right now, we are seeing wonderful supplies and some much better prices.

Where's the "stink," of the "stinky rose?"

GARLIC (Thursday, April 10): Where's the "stink" of the "stinky rose?" Well, "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." So says Dandy Don Meredith, the former quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and former Monday Night Football announcer. Dandy Don turns 65 today, and he just might be singing his famous phrase about Garlic. We are at the end of the storage season for fresh domestic Garlic. The new domestic crop doesn't start until June. Until then, expect less flavor from your Garlic. You see, Garlic is a bulb, and in the Spring, it begins to re-grow. That tiny sprout begins dehydrating the bulb, causing some of those precious oils to evaporate. The oil…is the flavor. Less oil. Less flavor. So you may have to double up on the Garlic as an ingredient, or chop it finer in order to release more oil content for flavor. To help preserve the oil content, go ahead and refrigerate your Garlic. That will help minimize dehydration.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, the largest Aircraft Carrier in the world.

PRODUCE IN THE NAVY (Friday, April 11): If you are serving aboard an aircraft carrier, somewhere in the Persian Gulf, you are part of a small city of some 5,000 people. You're definitely thousands of miles away from the nearest grocery store. Where in the world do you get your fresh fruits and vegetables? If you are serving aboard a Trident

The seal from the USS Alaska, an Ohio class nuclear submarine.

Nuclear submarine, you are part of a small group of 65 people. You're having three meals a day three hundred feet or so below the ocean's surface. Where in the world do you get your fresh fruits and vegetables? Michael Marks, Your Produce Man was given special permission by the U.S. Navy to travel with our sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, and aboard the USS Alaska, a $1.3 billion dollar submarine. You will be amazed how much fruits and vegetables are consumed. Join Michael next week, for his week-long series of "Produce in the Navy." Plus, he will be offering some special recipes straight from the Kodiak Café aboard the USS Alaska.