Market Notes January 12th, 2023

 

  WEIRDER WEATHER WEEKS

   The word that comes to mind is avenues. Going back a few years ago and continuing today, avenues have continued to create restrictions.  Whether it is an avenue that restricts us from leaving our homes or going to work or going to class restrictions abound. Restrictions on what we wear and what we do or do not inject cause conflict while avenues of supply and labor dwindle.  Yes, we build new roads that are supposedly better, but now literally the avenues themselves are disappearing.  Today, in our office in southern Santa Cruz County, just north of Watsonville, the sun is shining, but the ground is over saturated, and it becomes a very deceiving problem.  If this were the end of the precipitation we could begin to rebuild, but the next two weeks promise at least four more storms.  Although they are predicted not to be severe or have the extreme accompanying winds like we have experienced in the past two weeks, with this level of saturation mudslides and sink holes can appear with the slightest downfall.  Coastal evacuation will continue over the next week and bridges, roads, rivers, and creeks are all questionable. If luck has it, tomorrow might show some clear skies as well, but by Saturday the high pressure systems return. Traveling the coast is no longer feasible. The northern half of the State remains on alert as the seasonal La Nina attempts to normalize. The lower half of the State already got their share so roads that have been reopened should remain. From a produce point of view most of the Salinas Valley and other greens and row crop growers are safely running smooth in Yuma.  But huge Canadian waves and tornados in Alabama  and the southeast are an indication of what will cross this country over the next three weeks. Safety and family first, property second, then we can talk produce.

COMMUNICATION

  While the conditions at our California office are secure, the storms have played funny with our phone system at this location. Sometimes we get no dial tone, and when we do connect, we often cannot hear or cannot be heard. We also know that customers are often unable to connect as well. We often get dropped in the middle of calls as well. We also recognize that continuing to call and ask if you can hear us will drive you buggy. So, when this happens, instead of calling five more times we will move to a cell phone or e-mail. Feel free to do the same.  We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and hope to remedy this problem very quickly.

NEW PRODUCE QUIZ – WHO AM I ???

  I wish they could get my name straight.  From Callaloo to Inca Wheat to love-lies-bleeding, it’s all me but in many different forms.  Even my primary name origin is confusing. It is derived from the Greek meaning unfading love flower.  Found throughout the world but mostly in the tropics, I am an ornamental plant, a grain, and an edible leaf. My value as an ornamental is made quite obvious by my long clusters of beautiful red flowers and fiery red leaves.  My plant grows up to 36 inches and each one of us can contain as many as 500,000 seeds.  As a grain I am a historical staple.  This changed when conquistador Hernando Cortés, in reaction to the Aztec’s donation of me in religious related rituals, ordered my field’s destroyed and removed by the hands of any farmers who planted me.  So, my humble Mexican beginnings were halted but not eliminated.   My resistance to drought, ease of growth, and nutritional benefits prevailed and today I am popped, sprouted, used as a cereal, or a moist and sweet (yet unlevening) flour.  As a green, I can be green, red, gold, or any combination of the three. My colorful tasty green is often substituted for spinach in soups, pasta dishes or vegetable dishes.  Fry, steam or boil me briefly, as I do not require much heat to become tender.  My amino acids are very well balanced (they don’t even wobble).  I am rich in lycine, methionine and tryptophan, and provide an excellent source of magnesium, iron, phosphorus, copper and zinc.  

The answer to last weeks quiz was….SNOW PEAS… 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