October is a perilous time for apple and pear growers everywhere, because you never know what Mother Nature will dish out this late in the fall. The 2009 harvest season is no exception – snow in New England and hard freezes in Michigan and Washington State are putting late harvest varieties at risk of severe damage or even total loss. This is also an El Niño year, which means a wetter, more blustery winter – a concern even after the harvest is finished and the trees enter dormancy. The damage this season has been minor so far, but still painful. A prized organic Braeburn apple crop in Washington was nearly wiped out by cold that also caused severe damage in Pink Lady crops (generally the last variety to come off the trees). The risk of freeze damage is a powerful motivator for growers to get apples and pears off the trees all over the country. The positive side effect? Local product is now at its best and most abundant. Read the rest of this entry »

October brings shorter days and a chill to the air along with the final harvest in most parts of the U.S. Out of that final harvest comes an item I look forward to every year with great anticipation: pumpkins! Yes, pumpkins and winter squashes have arrived and Halloween is not far behind. Like every year I gear up for the one day I get to practice my hand at a fleeting but wonderful art form – Halloween pumpkin carving!

Our home garden crop

Our home garden crop was harvested a few weeks ago from our “mystery bed” – seeds we saved from our favorite jack-o-lanterns the year prior. My son Aidan nursed our prize winner through the summer, feeding it every few weeks and watering it every day until we wrestled the 125 pounder out of the garden along with the rest of our harvest (which totaled 21 medium-sized and 50 or so smaller squashes and pumpkins). It’s also time to harvest the compost from our last halloween. What’s left of the 46 pumpkins we carved last season is now a rich, dark humus; ready to feed our fall and spring gardens.

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The end of September at the national buying office is “apple in the mail” time. Every few days we receive a carefully packaged box in the mail courtesy of our longtime friends in the apple trade. It is something of a silly tradition because all of us here know just about everything there is to know about the varieties produced for commercial sale. And while there are slight variations from year to year in the quality and condition of the fruit, I suspect the real reason growers send us apples is to remind us, after many months of apple availability being limited to imported and stored apples, that it is once again time for new crop apples. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not sure when exactly but a few years ago I noticed I was eating fewer salads with salad greens as the base ingredient – opting instead for cucumbers or tomatoes. At first I thought my tastes had changed but on closer examination, I realized it was not me but the salad green itself that had undergone a transformation. As I spoke with other folks in the industry, I was surprised to find they had similar experiences. Sales continued to grow as new blends and packaging styles emerged but something was missing for me. This led me on a search for the perfect salad.

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As August rolls into September and the weather starts to cool, summer berry supplies evaporate rapidly. I always feel like I have become a giant when I shop the strawberry and blueberry displays at our stores during this time of year because the container sizes get progressively smaller as fewer strawberries come out of the fields and fewer blueberries off the bushes. Here in Watsonville where the global buying office is located, we see fewer farm workers in the strawberry fields as the long summer harvest season in the north country winds down and growers prepare to move production south again. Way north of us, the large-scale blueberry fields in Michigan and Washington State are slowing down as well. Soon, British Columbia and some small farms in Maine and Nova Scotia will be all that remain of this North American native berry. But, as these production giants give way to inevitable decline, cane berries emerge as the toast of the fall. Read the rest of this entry »

Mid-August brings a funny blend of changes here at the Whole Foods Market national produce buying office. The breakneck pace of early summer long haul shipping slows somewhat as local production peaks and the whole country seems to go on vacation. The early summer harvest fruits like apricots have faded and the end of mid-season fruits like cherries and blueberries are on the horizon. While the season for some summer fruits and vegetables stretch into the fall, we reach a point where every produce buyer knows there are fewer harvest days ahead than behind us. Read the rest of this entry »

My wife Erin thinks I’m a kook about most things that have to do with produce. For the most part she has given up trying to keep up with the complicated, ever changing, and sometimes contradictory set of personal rules I use to govern which fruits and vegetables I buy and when I buy them. She, quite wisely, now insists I shop for all the produce for our family. She has also learned to politely tune out my elaborate and overly detailed reasons for not buying corn in January, mangoes that have been chilled, or any piece of fruit with the word “delicious” in its name. My one “food snob” conversion success with Erin is tomatoes – all it took was about five years and a few summertime heirloom tomato salads to win her over. Read the rest of this entry »

As July transitions to August, we enter what is commonly known as the dog days of summer. In the produce world this also means we will see the most abundance and variety of domestically grown produce in our stores than at any other time of year. Local production is also peaking with all types of nearby fruit and vegetable production.

In soft fruit, plum availability explode, figs start their second season and grapes come off the vine full of sugar and flavor. Cherry production has shifted to the northernmost states and to higher elevations and, while some of the best fruit is still ahead of us, the season has passed its peak. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to warm weather all over the U.S., domestic production is reaching peak output. This time of year is perfect for picnics and other outdoor events, and few items pair better with sunshine and outdoor eating than melons.

The melon industry has changed a bunch over the years. When I was a kid, watermelons were 25-pound monsters and my sisters and I spent many a hot summer afternoon seeing who could spit the large black seeds the furthest. Most watermelons sold today are seedless and much smaller varieties, bred to be “refrigerator sized” and easier to harvest and transport. On the whole the recent changes in watermelon and other variety production and post harvest handling have been positive – particularly in the last few years as a re-emphasis on flavor has brought back some great heirloom varieties or has greatly influenced the selection of new ones. Read the rest of this entry »

The first few vegetables that come out of our garden at home hold a special meaning for me that is hard to replicate in a store or even a farmers’ market. It was summer squash this year; a half dozen round green scaloppini and yellow sunburst varieties. These were small and still had the blossoms attached – barely enough for a side dish and all had that delicate layer of spiked fur that the plant produces to protect itself from insects. As I slice them for a sauté, I know I’ll be swimming in squash in a month or so but this first small sample of the flavors of summer always comes with a simple but special kind of joy and pride at having provided for my family with my own two hands. Read the rest of this entry »