LONG PROMO:   Hey, did you know that next weekend is the world’s famous and largest trivia contest?  So we’re going to have a trivia question, how many seeds are in a strawberry?   So join me next week.  Plus, what goes with strawberries?  Rhubarb, and why in the world are banana prices so high…next week, with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.

SHORT PROMO:  What in the world is going on with bananas?  I’ll tellyou…next week with me, Michael Marks, Your Produce Man.
                                                                                                         
BANANAS (Monday, March 31):  Holy Toledo!  Holy bananas!  Have you noticed banana prices going high?  What’s going on here?  Oh, my goodness!  Well, you know Ecuador grows about half of all the bananas grown in the world.   Ecuador.   So go get out your world atlas.  It’s South America right up there on the tip and its right in the southern part of the banana growing region.  Now, in January and early February they had 40 inches of rain.  Got that?  40 inches of rain!  It caused all types of flooding.  They destroyed, the flooding, 62,000 acres of bananas and damaged another 200,000 acres of bananas.  So what does that mean for you and me?  Obviously, if banana supplies are low, demand is still high.  That means prices are going up. What you’re also going to find, because the rain stressed out all the plants, you’re going to see smaller sizes on the bananas as well.  Don’t fret.  It’s still one of the cheapest fruits you can buy per pound.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.   

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, I know the bunches cost more, but don’t fret.  They’re still a good buy.

BEETS (Tuesday, April 1): Hey, this week 1992, 16 years ago this very week.  Oh, my goodness!  My kids love him!  Purple power!  Barney started on TV.  So I thought I’d talk about purple power today.  Oh, beets!   Beets to me…you know, you can get two different meals out of beets.  First of all, most people will buy the beets for the bulb, and the best bulbs actually are about an inch and a half in diameter.  Those will be the sweetest beets.  By the way, the beets, the bulbs of beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable.  That’s why they’re so good.  So you’ve got the bulbs, right. The second one is the greens.  You’ve got beet greens.  So you not only have the bulbs for a meal one day.  The next day you can have the beet greens.  By the way, when you get this home, take the greens off immediately because they’re going to dehydrate that bulb if you don’t.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report…purple power with the beet and the greens. 

NAVEL ORANGES (Wednesday, April 2):  Right in here I have the good, the bad, and the ugly all in one fruit.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  Beautiful.  That’s the good part.  Beautiful, of course, navel oranges.  Now, what’s the good here?  First of all, this time of the year you have some of the sweetest navel oranges that you possibly can find.  What did I say?  Good…bad.  What’s the bad?  Well, sometimes this time of year you can get what we call dry cell in the fruit.  That’s because the fruit has been hanging on the tree for so long it bursts all  the water balloons in there and it can get dry cell.  Now, there’s no dry cell here.  You can usually tell dry cell by holding the orange in your hand and it feels really light.  That’s dry cell inside.  Now what’s the ugly?   Good, bad, and the ugly.  This time of year the peel starts peeling away actually from the flesh inside so you end up with this lopsided orange.  It’s not perfectly round.  They end up lopsided.  Don’t fret.  That’s just cosmetic.  It has nothing to do with how sweet and how juicy it is.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.

TEASE: Hey, in my next Produce Man report, I’ve got the good, the bad, and the ugly all in one fruit.

STRAWBERRIES (Thursday, April 3):  Hey, this weekend is the largest trivia contest going on in Wisconsin, so I thought I’d throw a trivia question out to you.  It’s a great trivia question.  How many seeds are on a strawberry.   Ah, you’re probably thinking, “There aren’t any seeds!”  Well, yeah.  All those are little, tiny seeds on the strawberry.  Most berries have the seeds inside.  The strawberry is one of the few fruits with the seeds actually on the outside.  So, how many seeds on a normal strawberry?  Well, according to Dr. Victor Voth who created most of the strawberries we enjoy today, there are around 200 seeds on every strawberry.  Now, how do you pick out the best berries?  First of all, you want to look overall and make sure they are all shiny.  They need to be very shiny.  The next thing I look for, I look at the calix.  You know, that’s the leaves on top. They need to be nice and velvety and really bright green.  The next thing I look for, I see if there are any white petals in there.  Those are actually the blossoms.  That means it came from a fresh field, new plants.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man.  

TEASE:  100, 101, 102.  Oh, in my next Produce Man report, how many seeds are on a strawberry?  103, 104…
  
RHUBARB (Friday, April 4):  Hey, you know yesterday we had strawberries on the show, and what dances well with strawberries?   You know, Ginger Rogers.  Fred Astaire.  What a great pair they were dancing.  Well, if you were dancing with strawberries, what would you be?  The best pair on earth?  Oh, yes.  Strawberries and rhubarb.  Makes great pie.  Makes fantastic jelly or jams.  But rhubarb, now I have two different types of rhubarb here.  You’ll notice just by looking at them, “Hey, Mike.  One’s thinner.”  Yeah, these are thinner.  These are hot house rhubarb.  This one is really thick, really wide.  This is field grown rhubarb.  You’ll notice these are actually a little light in color compared to this rhubarb as well.  Now, both are fantastic.  You’ve got to peel them.  You’ve got to get your knife out and peel them because they’re very much like celery.  They’ve got these long things.  In fact, when I first showed these to my son Shane when he was young, he said, “Hey, Dad.  Where’d you get the rad red celery?”  No, it’s rhubarb, one of the best spring vegetables on Earth.  I’m Michael Marks…Your Produce Man. 

TEASE:  Hey, in my next Produce Man report, oh, what a great couple!  What a great pair!  Strawberries and rhubarb!  Boy, they can dance!