LONG PROMO:   We are continuing our look at Blueberries, straight from the Blueberry fields.  Plus, the first day of summer happens next week, so let’s take a look at the Joys of Summer, Peaches and Nectarines.

SHORT PROMO:  Heh, we’re harvesting the Blues…Blueberries that is…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
BLUEBERRIES, PART VI (Monday, June 18):  The most important thing for Blueberries, for good Blueberries, is to get the temperature out of the berry.  The Blueberry straight from the field can be as high as 80 or 85 degrees.  We’ve got to get those high temperatures out quickly, and they do that with a vacuum cooling system that takes the temperature all the way down to 50 degrees within 30 minutes.  Heh, now the sorting process for the Blueberries, it begins right here.  Now the sorting begins with this cool “vacuum cleaner” machine.  It sucks up all of the leaves, all the twigs, and all the dry berries.  Do you hear that sound?  This is another cool machine.  This is a machine that kicks out all of the “red” berries that aren’t fully ripe and all of the soft berries.  It’s a really very expensive machine.  Then the berries go through a hand sort.  The process begins with hand picking, and now ends with hand sorting.  Now the final sorting is for size.  You’ve got small berries there.  You’ve got big berries here.  Now once the Blueberries have been packed, they are loaded into these beautiful cartons, palletized, and then they are cooled again…this time, down to around 35 degrees…you said 35 degrees, right?  DAVE:  32.  YPM:  32 degrees.  I told you that there is a lot of hard work that goes into getting a picture perfect Blueberry.    Heh Dave, thanks for your hard work.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. (Takes bite) Mmmm.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, farmer Dave shows us that there is a lot of hard work that goes into sorting a good Blueberry. 

BLUEBERRIES, PART VII (Tuesday, June 19):  You know, food safety is priority one, and food safety certainly first starts at the farm, but it also starts…in our kitchen, making sure that we wash our hands.  Making sure that dad washes his hands, and the kids wash their hands too.  Making sure we wash our berries just before we use them.  But at the farm level, what do they do to make sure we have good food safety?  Well, I went to a Blueberry farm to find out…and here’s what I found.  Heh food safety is priority one, especially in the Blueberry fields.  Heh, what you are looking at there is a cool owl house.  That’s right.  They keep owls here…to keep rodents out of the Blueberry fields.  They also have in the fields, for the workers, that’s right, toilets.  And of course, you’ve got to wash your hands.  Now, they train these workers twice a day on the importance of food safety, on the importance of washing and sanitizing their hands after every time they leave the fields.  After every time.  Not just once in a while, but every time.  Also, farmers like Dave Munger clean and sanitize all of the harvesting buckets and their harvesting trays like this.  They test the water.  They test the soil.  What else can they test?  Food safety, priority one…even in the Blueberry fields.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, how important is food safety when it comes to picking Blueberries?

PEACHES (Wednesday, June 20):  Heh, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys turns 65 today…so let’s talk about…the Peach Boys.  That’s right, the Peach Boys.  Summer.  You can’t have summer without beautiful, lucious summer Peaches.  Now, there are two main types of Peaches.  There is what we call Freestone and then there are of course Cling Peaches.  This refers to whether the flesh holds to the stone or if it easily pulls away.  Now the way you can tell is to simply cut your peach…if you noticed, I just cut this Peach from North Pole to South Pole.  Now just take it a twist it.  Now, see that does not separate form the stone inside.  This is a Cling Peach.  As we move later on through the season, we will start getting some Freestone Peach varieties.   Now to get the flesh off of this Cling Peach, simply cut down again and with the knife, separate it.  Now, you’ve got to ripen them, though.  Do not leave these out to ripen in the open air.  They will shrivel up before they ever ripen.  So please, put them in a fruit ripening bowl or a brown paper bag.  Roll that bag up.  Ohh, in just a few days, you will have perefectly ripe Peaches.  They will be perfect for your Summer.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  (Takes bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE: Heh, in my next Produce Man report, how do you know if this Peach is a Freestone or a Cling Peach?

NECTARINES (Thursday, June 21):    Today.  Welcome to Summer.  It is the first day of Summer today, and today, more of this fruit is picked and packed than any other day of the year.  What is it?  Nectarines.  That’s right, beautiful Nectarines.  This is the day when more Nectarines are harvested from the orchards in California, Georgia and the Carolinas, and packed today than any other day of the year.  This is my wife’s favorite day of the year.  This happens to  be Julie’s favorite fruit on the face of the planet.  Although she calls it a Nectarin.  She’s a Kindergarten teacher and you don’t correct the Kindergarten teacher.  Now, how do you pick out a good Nectarine?  Well, you don’t look at the red blush, because, look, this is about 99% red blush.  Turn it over right here to the stem end and look at the color that’s behind the red blush.  That’s right.  See that nice yellow color, almost dark yellow?  This is a very mature Nectarine, and when this ripens, it is going to be roll up your sleeve time, it’s going to be so juicy.  Oh man, it’s going to be good.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.  (Takes bite)  Mmmm.

TEASE:  Heh, in my next Produce Man report, today, more Nectarines are going to be picked and packed than any other day of the year. 
  
SEEDLESS WATERMELON (Friday, June 22):  Heh, this weekend, the world championship seed spitting contest is going on, Luling, Texas.  That’s right.  The Watermelon Thump festival is going on down there.  Sooo, I have one simple question:  How in the world can you spit a seed…from a Seedless Watermelon?  You  know, there are so many Seedless Watermelons being harvested today.  In fact, in any states around the country, about 80% of the Watermelons grown are Seedless.  So how do you spit…how do they even make a Seedless Watermelon?  Let’s figure that out.  You take a diploid, cross it with a tetraploid, and you end up with a triploid in the middle.  You got all that?  It’s genetics, OK?  The diploid is a horse.  You cross the horse with a donkey.  That’s the tetraploid.  And what do you end up with?  A triploid.  A mule that has no seeds and does not reproduce.  It’s the same thing with Watermelons.  They learned this a long time ago, way back in the 1930s in Nebraska.  Now, even Seedless Watermelons have seeds, but they are white, immature seeds, so when you eat them, you really can’t even feel them.  And you can’t spit them.  Bummer.  I’m Michael Marks, Your Produce Man. 

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