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Fresh produce and flowers: these two have a lot of differences but there are some interesting parallels from the business side of things. Some items are regular and reliable — even with crazy weather conditions – appearing like clockwork at just about the same time every year and progressing though the harvest season in a consistent, even predictable way. Others are impossible to predict, particularly in the early spring when the weather is at its worst. Case in point: artichokes. Regardless of our history and experience with the crop, it seems every year artichokes have a way of turning the most seasoned buyer into a doe-eyed novice. The same is true of field cut daffodils and prognosticating the true start of the springtime flower season.
Like many springtime bulb crops, cut daffodils have a greenhouse season and a field season. And while the greenhouse product tends to be easier to predict, field daffodils are larger, hardier and, generally, more desirable. Rain (and the associated cloud cover), temperature (air and ground), plant stage and harvest conditions will all conspire to influence scheduled harvest days. And because the season is so short and the window of optimal harvest conditions so narrow, the available supply can go from feast to famine and back again in a matter of days.
The 2011 North American asparagus season got off to something of a shaky start in Mexico this year. The hard freeze that blanketed most of the U.S. a few weeks ago stretched far into Mexico as well – freezing several days’ worth of the early asparagus crop. Pictures came over prompting comments for new displays of “poparagus” or “asparasicles.” Seriously though, Arctic air dips in the jet stream don’t normally reach this far south and many crops (particularly tomatoes and other summer vegetables) were severely damaged. The winter growing season is hard on growers. Even in areas that historically have moderate weather, a single errant weather system can wipe out or significantly reduce available supplies.
Fortunately, asparagus will bounce back from this early bout of weather with only a brief interruption in supply. The season is short in specific growing areas but asparagus production will cross the border into California in a few weeks and continue to march up both coasts and into New Jersey, Washington State and Michigan as we get closer to summer. The deep freeze we experienced in January will impact supplies in February, but March will signal a much larger range of available sources.
Asparagus in the field is not much to look at. In fact, if you are driving through an area where it is produced, it is easy to mistaken a working asparagus field for one that is lying fallow for the spring. Walk the field and the experience changes completely. It’s the first tender shoots of the plant that are harvested and seeing them poke through the soil is a beauty to behold. As spring progresses and the weather warms, the asparagus plant emerges and the fern-like bush will produce a red berry that is tilled back into the field to help feed the plant for the next season.
With the holiday season behind us, many look toward the new year with a renewed commitment to healthier eating. I know I do. While I still love my starches and proteins, they will move to the number two and three spots on my plate in favor of a larger portion of vegetables. Moving out of winter and into spring, the vegetables of choice will change; but for January it is all about broccoli.
We moved our national produce buying office (where I work) right after Thanksgiving. The office we had before was nice but the new one is spectacular. It’s located in downtown Watsonville, California — and the building reflects the flavor of the community surrounding it. But most importantly, we now have a functioning kitchen and are able to prepare dishes here! Last week we focused on guacamole and the office challenge was to bring the best ever “Super Bowl-O-Mole” recipes. Four team members rose to the challenge.
Call me a sap but I believe fresh herbs are just about the most romantic things you can cook with in the kitchen. I’m no critic of dried herbs, mind you – I have a shelf full of tiny bottles of indeterminate age that are fine in a pinch (pun intended), but nothing makes a meal or engages the senses quite like the look, feel, taste and, certainly, the smell of fresh herbs.
By December, we generally know what the domestic citrus season will be like. Citrus trees need a period of cool weather at the end of the fruit growth cycle to bring out the color and to balance out the flavor. Citrus trees also need rain at just the right time and in just the right amounts to make the fruit just right. This year the weather has been very good in some areas, not so good in others. For the most part, though, we are off to a good start.
For me, side dishes also include appetizers and there are plenty of quick and easy additions to the pre-meal. The first is simple – “easy to peel” citrus. Both Clementines and Satsuma Mandarins have started harvesting and by Thanksgiving the quality and flavor is spectacular. I’m a fan of the stem and leaf Satsuma — aside from the incredible flavor they are the easiest to peel, which makes them a favorite with the kids.
Every Thanksgiving, I brace for the inevitable “my stuffing is better than your stuffing” debate with my wife Erin. Growing up in the south, my stuffing is cornbread based. Hers is sourdough bread based, befitting of her Northern California upbringing. I’ve seen other changes in the Thanksgiving I remember as a kid — fresh cranberry relish replacing the red gelatin lump of my childhood, for example — but I have stubbornly remained loyal to the pecan cornbread stuffing of my youth, making it every year in honor of my southern roots.
September is an overlap month in the world of vegetables. Tomatoes, squash, corn and other summer vegetables are still available in abundance and while most of these are still quite good, the cool fall evenings and crisp mornings bring with them that familiar tug in my tummy to the hardier greens and roots of fall. The return of the harvest moon also marks the appearance of winter squashes and pumpkins along with the gateway event of the holiday season — Halloween!
At our global produce buying office, this is a touchy time as purchasing overlaps between our local/regional growers and the much larger national growers. As it is next to impossible to pinpoint the exact end of the local season across the country, our task is to make sure our office is ready to support each region during the cold winter months.
Many of the early squashes and pumpkins were affected as well, with stunted growth or by dropping off of the vine altogether. What is bad news for me is great news for the pumpkin growers and sellers in the area — it’s impossible for me to walk by a pumpkin display without buying something.
