LONG PROMO:   Hey, would you take a look at these little pearls.  That’s right.  New crop seedless grapes are now in the supermarket.  I’ll tell you a little bit about them.  Come down here.  Cantelope.  Candy melon, I call it.  Plus, what in the world is this?  These little sutured cantelope.  Plus, I’m going to teach you how to properly wash your salads this summer.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  I’m going to teach you how to properly wash your salads this summer…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
CANTALOUPE PART I (Monday, June 16):  Hey, did you know that June happens to be National Candy Month?  So I want to talk about today - cantaloupe, what I call “candy loupe”.  Oh, my goodness.  This is some of the best and sweetest cantaloupe you’re going to have.  For the next 120 days, if you have been trying to get your kids/grandkids to eat more fruits and vegetables, the next 120 days is going to be your time.  Just call this thing “candy loupe”.  In fact, Julie is going to get a little upset with me.  She was expecting to have this for lunch today.  Take a look at this…oh, oh, just look at the juice in there.  Look at the color.   Do you see that dark, rich orange color?  That tells me this is so full of sugar, my kids will eat this whole thing up.  Call it “candy loupe” not cantaloupe.  Honey, I’ll get you another cantaloupe when I get home after lunch, okay?   I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, just call this “candy loupe”. 

CANTALOUPE PART II (Tuesday, June 17):  You know, most people know this as cantaloupe.  It’s the musk melon and it’s fully netted, but you know there is another style.  It’s actually an old style, but we’re seeing a lot more of it in the supermarket.  This is actually called a Tuscan melon.  It is a musk melon just like a cantaloupe, but you’ll notice a couple things with this.  First of all, you’ll notice the sutures on it.  Yeah, that’s what these are called, sutures.  That’s actually an old variety of musk melon.  In fact, all throughout the Midwest you find a lot of the old time growers will still grow the sutured variety of musk melon.  However, this was actually developed with seeds from Italy.  That’s why they call it a Tuscan melon.  They took some of the old varieties of musk melons from Italy and crossed it with regular cantaloupe and came up with this.  Let me cut this in half and show you something with this.  Oh, my goodness!  If you love a cantaloupe, you love the smell of a cantaloupe -  take a look at that.  Oh, my goodness!  This is super sweet.  And the aroma, oh man, it just smells so good.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report…this sutured cantaloupe, oh, my goodness!  Take a look how good it looks! 

PEARLETTE SEEDLESS GRAPES (Wednesday, June 18):  New crop grapes are now in the supermarket.  Oh, and I love these first ones because they’re so cute, and they have a cute name too.  They’re called pearlette seedless grapes.  Pearlette is the French word for little pearls which is exactly what exactly these are – little tiny pearls because they’re rounded.  They’re not elongated like a Thompson seedless or some of the other green seedless grapes.  They are perfectly round.  Now one of the things I’ve noticed…these are either Mexico or California this time of year, the  desert region of California.  That’s where these new crop grapes come from, but one of the things I have noticed from these – (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.  This new crop is one of the best tasting new crop grapes I have seen in many, many years.  So if you have been waiting for new crop seedless grapes, wait no longer.  Now these are going to be a little bit more expensive simply because they’re first of the season, so you’re going to pay a little bit more.  But don’t wait.  You know, every day that goes by, they’re going to get cheaper and cheaper.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, go ahead, try a little pearlette grape.

PEACHES AND NECTARINES (Thursday, June 19):  Welcome, welcome to the first day of summer.  Now on this very first day of summer there is a particular type of fruit…more fruit is packed on this day than any other day of the year.  What fruit would that be?   Stone fruit - peaches, nectarines.  There are more peaches and nectarines harvested, packed, and shipped today than any other day of the year.  White flesh/yellow  flesh peaches, nectarines, even the plums.  Oh, look what I’ve found in here – one of those flat peaches that have become so popular.  So if you love peaches and nectarines, stone fruit, oh man!  From here on out this is your time of year becaue from here on out we get what I call the midseason varieties – much richer flavor and we start getting varieties that are a little more stone free so they’re a little bit easier to handle, especially for the kids.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, say “Hello” to summer with summer fruit.  (Takes Bite)  Mmmm.
  
SALAD (Friday, June 20):  You know, this time of year, of course, it’s summer time and that means we’re trying to eat a few more salads in our diet. And, you know, this time of year I need to show you something about salads.  Okay, you’re going to buy salads perhaps in a bag like this or maybe you’re going to go ahead and buy the whole head of lettuce and cut it up.   But whatever you do, I know you’re probably going to rinse the salad, right?  Shake your head yes.   You’re going to rinse the salad.  Okay, so here’s what you need to know.  Now, first of all, these packaged salads have already been triple rinsed, but you need to rehydrate them.  And I always tell people, go ahead and rinse all your vegetables, but this time of year take a temperature of the tap water coming out of your kitchen sink.  It’s like 68-75 degrees.  It is too warm to be rinsing delicate greens in.  So here’s what you need to do if you’re going to rinse your salads, okay?  You’ve got to fill up your sink with water and dump a whole lot of ice in there.   You’ve got to rinse off your salads in ice cold water.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, you’ve got to get out the ice for your summer salads.