YOUR PRODUCE MAN'S "FRESH TIPS"
March 15, 2002

Our last PRODUCE MAN PUZZZZLE dealt with Spring produce: How fast does Asparagus grow? In March, Spring begins. And that means lots of tender spears of Asparagus. As we move into May, with warm days and nights cooled by the Delta Breezes, growing conditions become near ideal. Ocean breezes flow up the Delta waterways in the San Joaquin Valley, cooling off the spears at night. That means sweeter spears of Asparagus. Nice warm days make those spears grow tall…and fast. As fast as…an inch every hour. This week’s PUZZZZLE deals with Spring produce: The “leaves” on an Artichoke; what is their real name? See next week’s “Fresh Tips” for the answer.

--RED POTATOES: The time of year when you have heavier demand for St. Patrick’s Day, is usually the time of year when you have the least amount of supplies. This year, growers around the country have been facing other obstacles as well, pushing Red Potato prices much higher than normal for this time of year. Smaller sizes, like the “B” are in even worse condition, magnifying the supply gap and lifting prices very high, very quickly. Right now, most Red Potatoes are coming out of Washington and North Dakota, but supplies are getting even tighter. Freeze damage to Texas Red Potatoes has had some supply impact. Also, heavy rains in Southern Florida severely hampered harvesting there. Because of these two growing regions having some trouble, shipments from the Red River Valley in North Dakota have been stronger than normal, so storage supplies there are even getting thin. In fact, some growers in the Red River Valley will be done with supplies in about two weeks. Another major grower in the region will be closing another packing shed as supplies wind down. New crops of Red Potatoes from Arizona and California will be starting up by mid-April, which should help ease the supply gap. Arizona may be late with their crop this Spring because of a colder than normal winter. The early “Norland” variety of Red Potato tends to have heavier supplies of “B” size Reds. In fact, this year, this early Red Variety had as much as 60-70% packout of Red Potatoes. The Red La Soda variety, which is the variety being packed right now, tends to have fewer “B” size packout. In fact, from the packout of Red Potatoes from North Dakota, the Red “B” packout has dropped from about 30% of the crop, to only about 8% of the crop! Combine that huge drop in pack out numbers with higher St. Patrick’s Day demand, and you have a recipe for sharply higher prices. Color plays a big role in Red Potatoes, which makes the Red one of the toughest spuds to grow. Reds grown in Florida, Arizona and California tend to be lighter in color because of the warmer growing temperatures. Also, the sandy soil in these regions, tends to mean “cleaner” Reds, with very little scarring from the harvest. On the other hand, colors are darker for Red Potatoes that are grown in Washington and North Dakota, but the thicker soil can cause more scarring during the harvest process.