MR. GREENS "FRESH TIPS"
November 9, 2001
Our last PRODUCE MAN PUZZZZLE dealt with apples: What was the first apple exported from the United States? This apple happened to be Benjamin Franklin's favorite apple. In 1758, Franklin shipped several barrels of this apple to England's Queen Victoria, thus becoming the first apple exported from the United States. Whenever Franklin traveled to Europe, he always made sure he had a good stock of this apple. Queen Victoria loved these apples so much, that she exempted this apple variety from taxation. It's an excellent eating apple, but also great in cooking. It is very crisp and has a true sweet-tart flavor. And it's green. Have you guessed yet? ItŐs the...Newtown Pippin. This week's PUZZZZLE still deals with apples: Most apple varieties have pink blossoms. This one has pink blossoms? What is it? See next week's "Fresh Tips" for the answer.
NAVEL ORANGES: They are the most popular eating orange in the world. And they are the most black-marketed fruit in times of war. The Navel Orange. So named because of it's inny. There is some very good news about this year's Navel Orange crop, most of which is grown in California. In fact, about 85% of the nation's Navels come from the San Joaquin Valley. We are noticing some of the sweetest Navel Oranges this time of year. Normally, when the season begins, the sugar content is quite low. But this year, early heat in the early summer months, helped mature the sugar content in the fruit earlier than normal. These are some of the sweetest and juiciest Navel Oranges for this time of year. The downside is that this same heat damaged the crop size. 
This year's Navel Orange crop is about 15% less than last year. And last year was 25% less than the year before. This year, growers expect to harvest only around 60 million cartons. A record crop from California was as high at 90 million cartons. The devastating heat in late May reached over 100 degrees for more than a week. The heat caused trees to stress, which caused blossoms to drop. Each blossom is a piece of fruit. Because of the smaller crop, fruit size is going to be quite heavy. Smaller sized fruit (88, 113, etc) will be much more expensive this year. The crop is coming in at 56 and 72 sizing. This early fruit is showing some "oil marks," typical for the early season. You see, this early fruit has colored up yet on the tree, so the fruit is picked when it is still green. Then the fruit is put into "ripening rooms" similar to a banana where the fruit will turn orange. 
The oil from the fingers of pickers will stain the fruit, leaving almost a finerprint on the skin of the fruit. This does not affect the quality of the fruit, just the appearance. Later on, as cold night temperatures hit, the color begins to change on its own. Cold temperatures trigger enzymes in the skin to change color. We refer to this naturally colored fruit as "nat color." Those same colder night temperatures also trigger more sugar production in the fruit.
KIWIFRUIT: Worldwide, Kiwifruit production this year appears to be down around 20%, which should lift prices this winter. In California, which grows 100% of the nation's kiwifruit production, crops appear to be almost cut in half. California's record Kiwifruit crop came almost a decade ago, in 1992, with about 13 million cartons. An average year is around 8.5 million cartons. This year, growers from Fresno to Gridley expect to harvest only about 4.5 million cartons if the emerald-green Kiwifruit. The same heat wave which affected Navel Oranges, also had a huge impact on Kiwifruit. The record high temperatures in late May, were preceded by strong winds and a late frost in early May. The combination of these weather patterns caused fruit to be stunted and caused blossoms to drop. In many vineyards, fruit is so small that about half the crop won't even be harvested. In Europe, French vineyards appear to be about 18 - 20% down. 
Italian vineyards has the severest cold temperatures, causing the crop to come in about 20% less than normal. The past two years have been bumper crops for Italy. Greece had the heaviest losses, about 30%. Italian and Greek Kiwifruit have been imported to the U.S. heavily over the past few years, but primarily stays on the East Coast and in Canada. So far, early California fruit has had excellent quality and sugar content, and is ripening up nicely. Keep them enclosed in your back room to ripen, and then refrigerate.