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Weather in Salinas and Watsonville is similar to that in our Santa Maria growing region - foggy mornings, with the sun starting to peak midday with temperatures in the 70s. Lately we have faced warmer nighttime temperatures, and expect to see nighttime lows back into the 55-56-degree range. Quality has varied from ranch to ranch - with overripe and bruising being the most significant difficulties we have faced. Aside from that, labor has been one of our biggest hurdles in this growing region. Pickers are falling behind the first part of the week, and we foresee this industry-wide labor issue worsening as the week’s progress. Bushberries in this region are looking excellent. Raspberries are starting to come down in numbers, but blackberries are in full swing. Our Watsonville grower, John Navarro’s blackberry ranch has a heavy volume of beautiful fruit on the way, and we anticipate steady volume through September.
Santa Maria:
Weather this week in Santa Maria consists of foggy mornings, with warmed up afternoon temperatures in the mid 70s and low 50s at night. Quality among blackberries looks very good, with some occasional green fruit here and there at the beginning of the week, but overall looking great. Our blackberry peak is currently underway and we anticipate this continuing through the first half of September. Organic strawberries look very good, with full color and counts at 24-26. We did face some bruising at the beginning of the week, but have since addressed the issue and quality has improved significantly. Our organic strawberry fall crop is starting to blossom with lots of fruit (pictured below), with our harvest beginning the 1st or 2nd week of September and peaking in late October.
Blueberries:
Weather in our PNW region has shifted from extreme heat, to wet and rainy. These forecasts may affect quality and production in the days ahead, but we are keeping a close eye on it. This week marks our last big push in British Columbia as we will begin to see volume taper off into the following week. Oregon should have steady production for the next 3 weeks as we head into September.
For up-to-date weather conditions in all of our growing regions, click on the region below. Wunderground.com is our go-to weather resource for fast and reliable weather updates.
This weekend was all about light and refreshing summer salads! Friday, August 11th and Saturday, August 12th we teamed up with our friends at the California Walnut Board and Fresh Express on a chain wide coupon and demos, where we had over 90 in-store demos in select Pennslyvania and Ohio Giant Eagle stores. Our featured recipe included toasted walnuts, feta cheese, and sweet strawberries on a bed of fresh spinach. We look forward to seeing the results of this promotion and had a blast partnering with these fellow brands on this delicious summer recipe!
Our Vice President of Sales, Anthony Gallino, spots California Giant strawberries at this Cincinatti Meijer!
