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Things are slowly but surely starting to wrap up here in our Watsonville region. Last week’s heavy rainfall has sped up the winding down of the Watsonville season among all berry commodities – with this Wednesday likely being our last day receiving fruit. Salinas, on the other hand, will continue harvesting if weather and quality permits. Preparation for our next season of fruit is in full effect, with strawberry planting 99 percent finished in both Salinas and Watsonville.
Santa Maria:
We are running out of daylight hours and warmer temperatures, which is affecting harvests in this region. This week temperatures should be around 70 degrees with nighttime lows in the 40s. Volume is slowing, while our organic strawberry planting for next season has wrapped up!
Mexico:
Weather varies in our Mexico growing regions – with Zamora and Irapuato consistent in the 80s and dropping into the 70s this week with nighttime lows in the 40s, and no chances of rain in the forecast. Quality among strawberries in Zamora is good with minimal defects. We expect to see an increase in counts as nights start to get cooler. Raspberries look great with an increase in volume. In Irapuato strawberry quality looks decent at 27-32 count, while blueberries look excellent. Los Reyes has also seen temperatures in the 80s and should drop slightly this week, with no chance of rain in the immediate forecast. Blackberry quality is good, and volume should increase slowly as production among growers improves – however, this year has not been as favorable in comparison to previous years for our blackberry crops. Both Maravatío and Ziracuaretiro have had highs in the 70s – quality among strawberries in Maravatío is good, with counts at 24-26. This growing region tends to get cooler than the others – therefore harvests are every other day in most crops, so the main defect we see is white shoulders and green fruit. We are looking to reduce days between harvest time to produce better quality fruit. Blackberries in Ziracuaretiro are firm and growers are in good rotation to produce steady volume.
Blueberries:
Blueberry production in Argentina and Uruguay is winding down, while Chile and Mexico should be taking off soon if weather permits. A cold spell slowed down the Chilean blues – pushing harvest back 2 weeks. Mexico has also had rain and a slight cold spell, slowing them down as well. Boats will start arriving from Chile the first week of December as we begin our export season, but toward the end of December into January will be when we start to see a decent spike in production.
Florida:
Weather in our Florida growing region has consisted of moderate temperatures in the 70s with nighttime lows in the 50s. We have chances of rain in the forecast for this week for Tuesday and the end of the week for Thursday and Friday. During this holiday week, we will be picking both today and again on Saturday. This time last year temperatures were in the 90s – this year, with weather on the cooler side our quality is looking good as far as size and firmness. Going into December this cool pattern should continue to eliminate all soft fruit.
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.
Who's ready to gobble up some hearty, berry-filled Thanksgiving treats? Entertaining friends and family means appetizer options, savory sauces and delectable desserts this Holiday season. From our berry and cheese platter, to our sweet cinnamon honey-poached cranberry-raspberry sauce, and mouth-watering blackberry apple pie - we have our consumers covered for Turkey Day with a spread of recipes that could feed a village! We wanted to make sure shopper's had all the tools they needed to prep the perfect Thanksgiving feast for friends and family, and look forward to more seasonal promotions through the holidays to help drive sales to the produce category, and end the year on a high note for our retail partners. Stay tuned next week for more on our Stocking Stuffers promotion that just launched, and all our "Favorite Things" from 2017 that we're giving away!
Our consumer Sandra loves California Giant strawberries so much that she can't wait to recieve more recipe ideas. Specifically jams and pies - perfect for the holidays!
The Store in Salt Lake City has all our shoppers berry needs covered - from conventional to organic - they got it!
