Josiah provided this field report from his visit to these orchards in early September.

The growing geographies in New York State and Pennsylvania are reporting lush fruit sets (on the trees), vigorous growth and excellent size, and early indications are also quite good for color and sugar…some of these growers are calling it a “vintage season.” Of course this is bittersweet for certain other growers in some areas, summer storms brought some pretty serious hail through the orchards back in July and August and a fair number of growers are reporting some fairly serious damage as they get closer to harvest. This is, naturally, never good for anybody.

But for those who managed to get through those hail-storms with little or no impact, it’s going to be a pretty solid season…we expect to see some of the classic, heirloom varietals (‘york imperial’, ‘northern spy’, ‘empire’ etc.)…and there should be plenty of ‘honeycrisp’ to go around!

To measure the soluble sugars in fruit, we use a tool called a refractometer. Fruit that is ready for packing should have a consistent “sugar reading” to indicate full maturity, and the trick for any grower is to find the balance between a shippable firmness with an as-close-to-ripe texture and flavor.

These late-season East Coast peaches (in the above examples) are displaying 12% to a full 14% Brix reading which is the ideal measure for a very, very tasty flavor profile. These yellow peaches are truly “tree ripe”. Random samples from this particular pick shows a nice exterior color, a clean and consistent internal color and excellent juice content…and man are they great to eat!

Measuring for sugar is just one of several testing-components we use to make the best, in-the-field decisions for the fruit that goes out to our stores and customers, but the best part of testing is the tasting!

They have found that consistent crop rotation over subsequent seasons, close attention to disease and insect pressures from greenhouse-to-planting insures a consistent crop through each cutting…and this ultimately saves on labor and treatment applications through the course of the season. Great Lakes Glads runs a 60-40 mix of in-house-developed proprietals to commercially available varietals…they have extensive relationships with the cultivators and greenhouse guys in the Netherlands, and are always staying ahead of new (and heirloom) varieties and color profiles.

There isn’t much about the “gladiolus” that these folks don’t already know. Bob Mayer showed me around the pack-shed, the shipping-shed and out into the fields. He is a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable man when it comes to his flowers…even this seasoned Field Inspector had a hard time keeping up! All in all, a solid grower and a great family farm operation out here in Bronson, Michigan.

This block of about 10 contiguous acres just came to full organic certification this season, and he’s pretty excited about it.

If this particular organic tomato project really takes off, he is contemplating tripling the acreage over the next few seasons. The blossom-sets (number of flowers that will emerge as fruit) and the 1st fruit-sets (pictured as green and breaking red) are pretty abundant, they will be packing a big ol’ bunch of tomatoes soon.

The brand spankin’ new organic-certified pack-line will get a thorough workout this season for sure.

Also pictured (because they’re on the back side of the tomato block, across a pasture) are his hormone-free bison (his “personal herd”, so I was told). All of the organic fruit and vegetable culls are dump-trucked over to these buffalo…apparently they’re quite fond of cucumber, bell-pepper and day-old strawberries…who knew?

Josiah Leet started with Whole Foods Market in 1993 and has been a Quality Assurance Field Inspector since 2001. “Stationed” on the Eastern seaboard for the winter off-shore-vessel season, every May he begins his “road season.” He covers various commodities grown and packed in South Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, New York State, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey.
Raised on the family farm in Pennsylvania where he first learned to drive on a tractor (a 1949 Ford 8N), Josiah has spent time on both coasts and is an avid (though admittedly amateur) surfer and a fairly decent fisherman. He also enjoys “the grilling arts” and a long weekend on the Harley. “Good food is best when served to good friends” is his motto.