MR. GREENS "FRESH TIPS"
February 16, 2001
Our last PRODUCE MAN'S PUZZZZLE dealt with Valentine produce: Jack Benny was born on Valentine's Day, 1894. Knowing his penchant for pinching pennies, what bouquet of flowers would Jack Benny give his wife for Valentine's Day? OK, OK, so if you read the rest of Fresh Tips last week, you actually would have read the answer in another section. Jack Benny loved to not spend money, so instead of buying a real bouquet of flowers, he would simply stroll down the produce isle and pick up a head...of broccoli. That's right. Broccoli is actually made up of hundreds of tiny little flowers, making a bunch of broccoli the cheapest bouquet of flowers in the store. This week's PUZZZZLE deals with winter citrus: What is the only citrus that can be picked when not ripe? Check out the answer right here in next week's "Fresh Tips."
MELONS: Hold onto your hat. We're seeing a very high market, and it has little to do with high demand. Rather, the big culprit is a tiny white fly.
Guatemala has lost about 50% of their Cantaloupe and Honeydew crops, and that has a huge impact in our supplies, mainly because Guatemala is the #2 supplier of winter melons to the U.S., behind Mexico. Guatemala is the most northern country in Central America, bordering Honduras, Beliz and Mexico, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. It is known as the "Land of Eternal Spring," with tropical rainforests and tropical beaches. It is the land of the ancient Mayan civilization. In fact, about 55% of its population today, are descendants of the Mayas. In ancient days, the Motagua River moved trade through the country. Today, the Zacapa region is the primary melon-growing region. It is in the eastern part of the country, in the Zacara province, near Honduras, which is another main supplier of winter melons. Growers in Zacapa say that they have lost millions of boxes of cantaloupe and honeydew due to the infestations of the white fly.
The white fly life cycle is only 21 days, so that means populations of the insect can easily get out of control, turning swarms into clouds, resembling a snow storm. The white fly is a "piercing-sucking" insect. It removes sap from the leaves of a plant. If millions of white flies are removing sap from a field of melons, the plants can die. White fly also spreads a plant disease called "mosaic." You can have a melon field look beautiful one day, and the very next, after an infestation of the white fly and mosaic, the field looks like it has been blow-torched. Mosaic kills the leaves and vine, which renders the plant dead. In the 1980s, lettuce growers in California experienced tremendous losses to the white fly, and in the early 1990s, cantaloupe growers in the Imperial Valley also saw devastating losses to the white fly. For winter melons this year, we should expect to see much higher than normal pricing through the remainder of the season, until the spring crop begins in Mexico and Texas, sometime in late March or early April.
| RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY MY BERRIES ARE MELTING TODAY Expect Higher Prices and Shorter Shelf Life |
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| Over 5" of rain hit Southern California Strawberry fields. It will mean shorter supplies and higher prices.
Rain can be a farmer's best friend or his worse nightmare. The difference between the two is when the rain comes, and how much. Southern California strawberry fields were basking in 80 degree temperatures when a strong storm hit, bringing high winds and up to 5" of rain to many growers from Oxnard in the north to Irvine in the south. Right now, this region is the main supplier for the western half of the United States, with Florida handling the rest of the nation's demand. Rain on Strawberries is kind of like water on the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. It makes berries melt. Basically, any berry that had red color, will melt. Growers have pickers in the fields now, stripping the plants of any colored berry. California Strawberry growers use black plastic to line the raised beds, and the laser level the furrows. This helps direct water out of the fields very quickly, but when 5" of rain hits, nothing gets the water out of the fields fast enough to prevent damage. If more rain hits, then some growers could see plant damage due to root rot. The storm also brought strong winds. The pounding of the rain combined with the winds, mean a lot of "blossom drop." Every blossom is a berry. So this could impact supplies 30 - 45 days from now. We could see some quality issues with berries, like bruising, white shoulders and "pinrot." All of these issues will shorten shelf life as well, which means when you buy them, use them quickly. Don't expect them to last more than a day or two. |
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ASPARAGUS: Withing the next few weeks, we should start seeing better supplies, although we do expect the crop to be a little later than normal. Cold temperatures will most likely delay peak supplies this Spring by a week or two, particularly from the Delta growing region, which supplies about 60% of the U.S. supply of asparagus. Right now, supplies are coming from Baja and Imperial Valley. |
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