Your Produce Man's blog

When I first started working in produce, in the 1970s, the main Tangerine we sold was the Fairchild. That really was it. But the Fairchild was everything you didn’t want in a Tangerine. It took an engineering degree to peel it. And seeds…oh my goodness. Fairchilds were seedy. But there were a few growers who were planting some Owari Satsuma Mandarins. I remember in those early years, most of California’s crop was sold primarily in Asian markets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York or exported to the Pacif

The Cranberry is in. I’m on my holiday mission to get more people to actually fall in love with this tiny holiday berry. Not the berry in the can that's molded and jiggly.  I mean the real fresh berry.  Try something new for the holiday season. In a saucepan, put one package of fresh Cranberries and one cup of sugar. Instead of one cup of water, add one cup of our Barsotti Twisted Berry Juice or Barsotti Apple Juice. I would love to see you do fresh Cranberries this holiday season. Be sure to buy extra. 

Early in the fall, you might start finding a few more tiny bugs in your Leaf Lettuce. It doesn’t mean growers are slacking on their job. It’s just the time of year. In the Salinas Valley in California, the hillsides surrounding the lush Lettuce crops are brown and dried. Insects, looking for greener pastures, find heaven in the Leaf Lettuce fields. As insect populations explode in the fields, it becomes more difficult for growers to control those insects. Don’t worry though. The insects are easily dealt with

One Potato, two Potato, three Potato…how about a Potato Bar. For any Fall get-together, get out a baked Potato bar. Before you bake, rub some Olive Oil on the skin and sprinkle with sea salt. Makes for a crispy skin. Get your Potato. Pile on the toppings. Chile, broccoli, several cheeses like Cheddar, Jack, crumbled Blue or Feta, freshly grated Parmesan, sour cream, butter, Green Onions, Red Onions, chopped Bacon, chopped Tomatoes, sautéed Mushrooms, thinly sliced Jalapeno Peppers, Salsa…shall I go on? F

Come home for the holidays. I know it’s not the holiday season yet. But I just couldn’t wait to tell you that the Holidays are now in the stores. Come home for the Holiday Red Seedless Grape. Huge Grapes. Size of your thumb huge. Very crisp, seedless and sweet. If you see an oddly-shaped, reddish-colored person-like creature walking down the street, it just might be me. I think I may be turning into a Holiday Seedless Grape from eating so many in one day. Yum. This grape was the dream of Luis Carat