Market Notes
September 21, 2017

IT’S GOING TO BE A FRECKLEY SPECKLEY SEASON

From California and Colorado to Washington and Wisconsin, Russian Banana Fingerlings are being freshly harvested. In some cases this is a time challenge to get the potatoes out of the ground before it freezes. In other cases it is just watering the field prior to harvest. Whether locked in storage or run and shipped as “just past new” potatoes this is the largest harvest season of the year. There is one other common thread in this year’s season, the heavy rains these potato fields received. This caused large lenticels, but it is cuter to say freckles. Lenticels are the tiny little dots on the skin of a potato that allows the tuber respire. When there are heavy rains the lenticels are enlarged. In post-harvest these potatoes will do one of two things. Either the lenticels will stay wet, become infected, slime up, and destroy the potato, or they will dry up and leave a freckle or speckle a bit more prominent than you would have in a drier season. So, clean, new crop, speckled potatoes are going to be the standard for this season. They cook up beautifully and the lenticels are much less noticeable when cooked. Pictures are available if you insist. Good news is we are in stock everywhere, east coast, west coast and….

COLORADO POTATOES HAVE BEGUN

The organic russets are running and they are looking fine. Creamers are now available in red, yellow and purple. Fingerlings are available in freckley speckley yellow and two other colors so we can do assortments. Pretty much everything is available either conventionally or organically. In another two weeks we will start shipping the 2017-2018 Harvest Moon to shine on your shelves, plates or pallets. Product loads out of Mosca, Colorado but we will also be loading trucks weekly to Sunrise Logistics in Ephrata, Pennsylvania for forward distribution to the Northeast. Our California product will continue from Edison with FOB and overnight delivery to market destinations. Please contact your Culinary Rep for full details and pricing.

SUBLIME FINGER LIME

We actually have our own finger limes. It is a small crop (about 100 trees) and every now and then they produce beautiful fruit. These limes are organic and full green. We would not sell brown fruit like our competitors do, and these limes don’t even have the light uncolored spots. The trees were trimmed so the entire lime gets sunlight, hence a greener fruit. We are offering very competitive pricing for fifty pound units of which we have two, yes two. We will break these down if necessary. They will ride perfectly with our potatoes as they are packed at the same facility. We expect one or two more harvests each to yield one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds each. If you use bulk finger limes, this is a great deal.

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – – WHAT AM I??

In China I am dialect of record and the language spoken by government officials. But throughout the rest of the world I am the proud name of the largest group of edible citrus. Most consumers think of me as a single fruit, but there is actually a category that totally devoted to me. Within that category we vary greatly. We have many different textures, some of us are seeded, some of us are not, and our trees have few similarities. One thing we do have in common is our “slip-skins”. We strip down real easy which makes us popular at bars and one quick weekend getaways, but we can really be enjoyed anytime. Dancy is the one who most likely started the deal. From there we have been divided into four categories ranging in location from Japan to the Mediterranean basin and from Indonesia to the commons everywhere else. Incest runs rampant in our groups and you can see the foreplay while we are waiting in line for our shot at cross-pollination. Our flavor is popular worldwide but it remains with the Japanese for the title of growth and consumption. It’s always cool to be young, but adolescent heat makes us very, very sweet. We love to hang around the hot desert sun, waiting to be picked, packed and shipped, and slurped. We are best eaten out of hand, but we can also be used for sweet and sour sauces, and salads of rice, chicken, or fruit, or with seafood. We have also been spotted decorating cakes, hiding in bavarian creams, and on special occasions, chocolate fondue. Obviously we are an excellent source of vitamin C, but we also supply potassium, vitamin A, and folic acid.

L ‘Shana Tova (Happy New Year)

Answer To Last Week’s Quiz…ARTICHOKE…Congrats To All Winners

Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702
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Culinary Specialty Produce, Inc., 2015