Last week’s YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE still dealt with a fall fruit: Koko, Stanford University’s “talking” gorilla, used sign language to describe this fruit as “red, juice, corn, seeds.” What is it? There's a story of a new chef who had recently graduated from culinary school and was in his first job as an executive chef in a white tablecloth restaurant. The owner of the restaurant wanted to make some jelly using this fruit, so the chef ordered a carton. Upon receiving the carton, the chef immediately called the produce company to inform them that the fruit was bad. "I cut one open, and it has already gone to seed." He was, as was Koko, the "talking" gorilla, were both referring to...Pomegranates! This week's YOUR PRODUCE MAN’S PRODUCE PUZZZZLE deals with another fall item: Is the Pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? See next week’s Fresh Tips for the answer.

Reggie Jackson may be “Mr. October” in baseball, but Cauliflower is “Mr. October” in the produce department.

Here’s one of the last Cauliflower fields in Salinas to be harvested this fall. More Cauliflower is harvested in October than any other month.

“Take two Kiwi and call me in the morning.”

KIWIFRUIT (Tuesday, October 26): Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton turns 57 today. Also, turning 57 this year is Kiwifruit in the United States. The first few flats of Kiwifruit were imported from New Zealand into the United States in the late 1940s. Although, back then, it was called “Chinese Gooseberry,” a name that was not very marketable at that time. You see, we were in the early years of the Cold War. Communist China was not a friend, so the early importers decided they had to have a name change. There was a tiny, brown, fuzzy bird in New Zealand called a Kiwi bird. Well, this fruit was tiny, brown and fuzzy. Why not call it “Kiwifruit?” Actually, Kiwifruit looks like the egg of the Kiwi bird, so they did away with “Chinese Gooseberry” and renamed it “Kiwifruit.” New crop California fruit is just beginning to be harvested from Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley and in Gridley in the northern Sacramento Valley. Right now, there are still some old crop Kiwifruit from New Zealand and Chile available, but those supplies are ending very quickly. You will notice a very big difference between the old crop and tne new crop. Ripeness. Old crop Kiwifrruit from the Southern hemisphere is very mature and ripe. In fact, if you try to keep it too long, it will over ripen very quickly. New crop Kiwifruit, however, from California will be quite firm, and will need a little extra time for ripening. Don’t expect to order Kiwifruit and serve it immediately. You will need to allow extra time for ripening. If you serve unripe Kiwifruit, it will be quite pale in color and may be a bit tart. You can ripen your Kiwifruit by leaving it at room temperature, unrefrigerated, but keep them covered, or in a brown paper bag. Once they are ripe, you can then refrigerate them. New studies from Norway say that eating two Kiwifruit a day is as good for your heart as taking aspirin every day.

Ducks may fly south for the winter, but lettuce supplies also move south, from Salinas to Huron and finally to Yuma.

ICEBERG LETTUCE (Wednesday, October 27): A century ago, the first tunnel was in operation, from City Hall to 145th Street. It was the opening of the New York subway, 100 years ago today. Just a few miles away from the subway was the produce market of New York city. Another railroad delivery was being made. “Another load of icebergs are coming in from California,” calls out a produce receiver. The railroad car doors and rolled open. Inside. Hundreds of tiny little “icebergs.” Or, at least that’s what they looked like. Three thousand miles away, in Salinas, California, another load of icebergs is being prepared. It’s actually head lettuce, harvested and then loaded into railroad cars. This was before the day of refrigeration. Once the heads were loaded, shaved and crushed ice was blown over the lettuce. Doors were closed and the railroad heads East to New York, Boston and Philadelphia. By the time the train arrives, some ice has melted, leaving what appears to be hundreds of tiny “icebergs.” Thus the name, Iceberg Lettuce. This time of year, we start seeing a transition of supplies. Salinas is quickly ending its season. For about a 3 – 4 week period, a tiny growing region south of Bakersfield begins harvest. This is Huron, California, a stop gap of lettuce supplies, waiting for Yuma, Arizona fields to start production sometime in mid-November. During this transition period, we can tend to find more ups and downs in quality and supply. Also, because nights are getting longer and daylight hours are getting shorter, we tend to find less yields from the fields. Lettuce is growing slower and the heads are smaller. Most growers really don’t expect to see any major quality or supply problems during this transition.

The first generation centuries ago, was Kale, “without a head.” The second generation became Cabbage, “with a head.”

Fall and Winter Cabbage tends to be sweeter.

CABBAGE (Thursday, October 28): Today is the 368th anniversary of the start of one of the finest learning institutions in America. It was in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The place is Harvard. The university was started with about 400 pounds, roughly $600 is today’s money. Well, in 1636, the number one vegetable grown in the early colonies, was cabbage. It was fairly easy to grow, withstood colder night temperatures, and because it was a hearty vegetable, cabbage was easier to store than many other vegetables. During the middle of summer, about 45 states grow cabbage. Well, this time of year, that number shrinks to about 5, including Florida, Georgia, California, Texas and Arizona. I actually prefer cabbage grown in cooler temperatures of the fall and winter. Less sunlight means less harsh chlorophyll flavor. The cooler temperatures brings out a sweetness in cabbage that you generally don’t find in the summer. In the wild, the Brassica oleracea plant is native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, and is somewhat similar in appearance to a leafy canola plant. Sometime, soon after the domestication of plants began, people in the Mediterranean region began growing this first ancient "cabbage" plant as a leafy vegetable. Because leaves were the part of the plant, which were consumed, it was natural that plants with the largest leaves would be selectively propagated for next year's crop. This resulted in larger-leafed plants slowly being developed as the seed favored for next year’s crop. By the 5th century B.C., continued preference for ever-larger leaves had led to the development of the vegetable we now know as Kale. Kale is known botanically by the name Brassica oleracea variety acephala that translates to mean "cabbage of the vegetable garden without a head." Kale continued to be grown as a leafy vegetable for thousands of years, and is still grown today. As time passed, however, some people began to express a preference for those plants with a tight cluster of tender young leaves in the center of the plant at the top of the stem. Because of this preference for plants in which there were a large number of tender leaves closely packed into the terminal bud at the top of the stem, these plants were selected and propagated more frequently. A continued favoritism of these plants for hundreds of successive generations resulted in the gradual formation of a more and more dense cluster of leaves at the top of the plant. Eventually, the cluster of leaves became so large, it tended to dominate the whole plant, and the cabbage "head" we know today was born. This progression is thought to have been complete in the 1st century A.D. This plant was named Brassica oleracea variety capitata, which translates to "cabbage of the vegetable garden with a head." By the way, here is an interesting fact about the lowly cabbage. The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, there are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence, but government regulations on the sale of cabbage total 26,911 words. The earliest settlers on North America’s eastern shores brought cabbage seeds with them—from England, from the Netherlands, from Germany and Scandinavia. New Netherland, the colony established by the Dutch in about 1621, cabbage was growing up and down the Hudson River and into neighboring areas. This was “cabbage country.” Citizens of the capital city of New Amsterdam, now New York, which was established in 1624, ate heartily of “speck ende kool,” pork with cabbage. At about the same time their German neighbors in Pennsylvania and New Jersey concocted vats of “pepper hash”—pickled cabbage mixed with American peppers. Wisconsin produces more cabbage for processing than any other state in the U.S. Most processed cabbage goes into the production of sauerkraut. And then in 1636, cabbage was king, and Harvard was born.

Kids love grape juice, grape popsicles, grape jelly. Now, they can fall in love with a Grapple, pronounced “Grape-L”

GRAPPLE (Friday, October 29): You won’t believe your nose. You’ll walk by the display of apples in the produce department. You’re sure they’re apples. But they don’t smell like apples. You’ll have someone else smell the apples just to confirm what you smelled. Yes, it looks like an apple. It’s shaped like an apple. But, it smells like Concord Grapes. Take a bite. Crisp like an apple. But with a flavor of Concord Grapes. You’ve just eaten a “Grapple,” a brand new apple from Washington State. Have they gone crazy up there? From Wenatchee Valley, the very heart of apple country, folks are putting apples in a Concord Grape bath, a spa of sorts. Maybe someone was drinking too much fermented Concord Grape juice to come up with this idea. Actually, the term that’s used by the purveyors of this cool, kid-friendly apple, is a more “enhanced flavored apple.” Enhanced is an understatement. Enchanting would be more like it. The apple, either a Gala, Granny or Fuji is bathed through a patented process and in a few days, the entire apple takes on the essence and mouth-watering taste of Concord grapes. The combination is outstanding. Outstanding is actually an understatement. Magical would be more like it. When you see people smell this apple, and taste this apple, their eyes and taste buds light up in a magical sort of way. Children have been especially fond of Grapple. With childhood obesity increasing at alarming rates, the Grapple could go a long way to improving the eating habits of children and introducing them to more produce. Grapples will make an outstanding addition to any salad. The wonderful combination of Concord grape and Fuji apple flavors make it a perfect compliment to other fruits and vegetables. And because the Grapple is such a special fruit, it is the ideal hors d' oeuvre to serve to your dinner guests. Slice up the Grapple and serve it with some sharp cheese for an unforgettable appetizer. They may be pricey, $3.99 to $4.99 for a package of 4. But that’s still cheaper than a candy bar, which leads to dentist bills, and obesity and increased health care costs. Don’t grapple with price. Get a Grapple for your kids.

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