April 6th, 2023 | Culinary Produce

Market Notes April 6th, 2023

TATERS

The fall crop continues to wind down in Colorado. There are drips and bits to be found but most available potatoes are for retail contracts or buffalo food. Colorado did a great job this year, from field runs to improved sizing, but it was a slamming season and it wound up early. Usually, we can depend on the valley to provide potatoes until May, but not this year. We still maintain our forward distribution facilities in Los Angeles. California and Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Organic rounds new crop out of Brawley are very expensive because for the next two weeks, they are the only game in town, and they know it. Competition starts the third week of April. Conventional rounds begin next week for whites and once again the third week of April for yellows and reds. Round purple potatoes will begin early May. Marble sized potatoes should be in good supply by May 15^th, and by the end of that month we should have new crop fingerlings. We do not anticipate a service interruption on fingerlings, but the rounds, both organic and conventional will remain tight throughout April. Other than fingerlings we strongly recommend staying way ahead of orders on all rounds.

GREENS

Southern Ohio is ready for the pickin’, and the pickin’ we will do. We, like everyone else, were bummed that there was no real volume this week as we would have loved to have ramps for your Passover Seder, or Sunday Easter feast, but it was not to be. By Monday, when we first ship, ramps will be good sized. Fresh and clean. The best bet for overnight shipping is twenty-five pounds and when we get over forty pounds, commercial airlines air freight facilities are the way to go. Ramps should be abundant this year with all the rain, but the trick is to get an abundance of pickers, to harvest at prime times. In other green news, we have a hell day on Monday. Monday is the first day of baby greens shipping since the end of the Yuma season. The first days are usually rough with new operators and machine tinkering combined with high demand. Usually takes three to four days of catch-up before things roll smoothly. Quantity might cause a delay this season as plantings were delayed due to the rain.

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I ???

I taste best! I belong to a group that has over 600 geneses, and 13,000 species, so being number one is quite an achievement. My family and I have been cultivated for the past 11,000 years. Contrary to my name, my particular species originated in Central and South America. Like potatoes and maize, I was a present to Europe, not a native as so many were compelled to believe. I can be found cultivated in Mexico and Guatemala, but when I’m wild I reach for the sky. It was only after the 1500’s when the Spanish came to the New World that I was introduced to Europe and Asia. Misnamed and mispronounced seems to be my lot in life. Not even the European will partake of me, but humanoids have come to hold me in high esteem as a culinary delight. I have a rich green color with a slight bloom on my skin. I am a fast grower, so many cannot figure out why sometimes I am in short supply. I require warm soil to germinate, which can be accomplished indoors, then transplanted to warm fields. I am a self-pollinator, so I do not need a mate to keep me happy. As long as you pluck me regularly, I will continue to produce. I am a high-end alternative used in niçoise salad. To the palate I am silky and smooth and tender when young and can be eaten raw in salads. Otherwise, I can be steamed, marinated, or pickled. Like all my relatives I am high in folic acid, potassium, iron, and magnesium. I also supply thiamin, zinc, copper, and I am a rich source of fiber and vitamin C. My price usually soars every holiday because it can. That’s what comes from being the best.

The answer to last weeks quiz was….WATER CHESTNUT… Congrats to all winners.

Call 908-789-4700 –Lisa or Richard– Fax 908-789-4702

Visit us at www.culinaryproduce.com