Market Notes March 12, 2020
YUMA YUCKA
Not what you would call a good Yuma season this year. We started late due to delayed plantings form excessive rain. We suffered through cool days and frosty nights, retarding growth and supply. We dealt with quality issues, product breakdown and allocations. Now as we are a mere few weeks away to the sunny transition back to the Salinas Valley, Yuma is struck once again. Heavy rain has caused flooding and major mud slides. Equipment and workers are unable to get to the fields. This will undoubtedly slow down harvest and most likely affect supply. Many loads have already been put off a day or two. So prepare for one more shot from Mother Nature, reminding us who is really in control. The good news is that by the first of April we will be loading out of the Salinas area from the spring and summer season. Happy loading!
RAMP ON
We were right! It happens so rarely let’s say it again; we were right. We saw our first 5 pounds of ramps today. They were small, about the length of a dollar bill but we have some warm weather for the next few days and that should make them taller and more abundant by Monday. The nights remain cool, which is a setback, and there is some scattered rain predicted for later in the week but we will have shippable volume come Monday 3-16. We are now willing to take advance orders for shipping next week. For orders of 10 to 40 pounds Fed-Ex is the best option. Over 40 pounds we can use commercial airlines. Load volume for truck will most likely not be available until the week of the 3-23. But now is the time to ramp up. Now is also the time to set up ad dates and prices. Please call our office for ad deals and promotional material.
PRODUCE QUIZ — WHO AM I???
One of my earliest appearances is estimated to have been around 3400 BC. My first sighting was in Tehuacan that is south of Mexico. Almost immediately someone was spotted me in Peru. Today I am primarily cultivated in South America and Europe. For the most part I am a long trailing or climbing plant, but a few of my relatives do the bushy thing. Yellow flowers and large shallowly lobed leaves protect me from the elements and snoopy passers-by. As a member of the cushaw family I have a smooth, nutty taste that is well complimented by cinnamon or nutmeg. By category, winter is in my name, but I am harvested during two other seasons. When harvested in summer I am tender and best suited for stewing, boiling, or baking in a pie. When I am harvested in autumn it is often fashionable to split me in half, parboil me (yooouch!), then stuff and bake me. My second harvest yields good meat for jams, preserves, or pickles. These days, you’re even eating the babies. The long body isn’t enough anymore. With a body shaped like a pear, my pale, tan, smooth skin peels easily to reveal my beautiful, finely textured, sweet, orange flesh (stay away if my skin is tinted green; it means I’m not yet ready). I am a great source of beta-carotene I am also a good source of Iron Riboflavin along with vitamins A & C.
Answer to last week’s quiz ….. OREGANO…..Congrats to all winners
Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702 Visit us at www.culinaryproduce.com “like” us @ Culinary Specialty Produce on Facebook© Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015