Market Notes
March 25th, 2021
RAMP CONSTRUCTION DELAY
We said last week that fresh ramps would begin shipping this Friday or certainly by this coming Monday. Well, we were wrong. Mother nature did not warm things up as much as we liked so the first day of shipping looks like it will be next Wednesday, 3-31-2021. And, while even that is a guess, we can just short of guarantee that there will be more than stems by next weekend. If you are super aggressive, the answer is no, we do not offer micro ramps. So we are a week off once again proving that by saying something is going to happen does not automatically make it happen. In other spring this news, western fiddlehead ferns (lady ferns) are now available forager direct or in the LA market. These are not the eastern fiddlehead ferns (ostrich ferns) that are a bit sweeter, but the look and crunch are the same. Fiddlehead fern arrival is a strong indication of warmer weather which is what we need to make the ramps grow. See what we did there?
TRANSITION
No, it is not a song from Fiddler, but it is by now a twice a year tradition. For many of the specialty greens growers and many commodity growers as well, this upcoming week will be the last week for loading in Yuma. The deal is moving next weekend and by Monday, April 5, 2021 loading begins in the Salinas Valley and surrounding areas. As coolers fill and processing lines prepare for their first runs of the northern season, we know from experience that first day can be a hell day with trucks backing up, systems being refined, product waiting to be cooled and often just over all confusion. So, for many of our regular Monday customers we have moved the loading day to Tuesday. We will micro manage the process as best we can until everyone is loaded. The good news is the product in the fields is looking great and there should be no issues with weather or crop damage. We also need to have all orders for April 5th and 6th no later than Thursday April 1, 2021. Northern exposure, here we come.
NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I
I’ve gone from growing wild, to slave plantations, to industrial production. A perennial grass, I am grown in about 80 countries in the tropics and subtropics and can grow from 6 to 23 feet in height. My cut shoots are 1 – 2 inches in diameter. I am first documented in India in 1000 BC. Early on, I was used in medicine; Dioscorides, a first-century Greek physician, considered me “worth my weight in silver.” You’ll find me mentioned by Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah in the Old Testament. Europeans viewed me as a fabulous food and expensive medicine brought through deserts to their ports. In fact, in 966, Venice’s fate and fortune were founded on me and on the trade of silks and spices. My most popular output is — cut; crushed for my juice which is extracted with water; purified, concentrated by evaporation, and crystallized. In ancient times, you might have chewed me, or in an Arab harem, made me into a depilatory. For nouveau cuisine, cook me as a skewer for shrimp. Raw, I am 96-99% sucrose. Originally a rare and valuable plant, I became so popular that by 1979 there were more of my products produced than could be consumed. I got downgraded and forced into the cancel culture. Today, ecologists propose my juice as an alternative food source for pigs and poultry, and scientists are mapping my DNA to help understand plant genes. Ah, but there was a day…
The answer to last weeks quiz was…LEMON CUCUMBERS…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., 2020