Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
shortages.

On Feb 9, 3:31 pm, Dave Smith > wrote:
> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> shortages.

You bet! It absolutely ruined my new lettuce and radishes that were
just coming up. LOL.**

N.

**Highs have been in the single digits and lows below zero for a
couple weeks, now.

Dave Smith wrote:
> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> shortages.

Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for $2.79

On Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:31:01 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:


>The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
>shortages.

We had to go all the way to Florida to find some global warming and it
ain't there either!

Goomba38 wrote:
>
> Dave Smith wrote:
> > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> > of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> > shortages.
>
> Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for $2.79



A few weeks ago I was buying broccoli for 99 cents. Then it went to $1.99.
Today it was $2.99.

Goomba38" > wrote in message
. ..
> Dave Smith wrote:
>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of
>> some
>> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed
>> for
>> shortages.
>
> Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for $2.79

And brocolli for $2.45.

Leaks are a good price though at $1.99

elaine

"elaine" > wrote in message
...
> Goomba38" > wrote in message
> . ..
>> Dave Smith wrote:
>>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of
>>> some
>>> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed
>>> for
>>> shortages.
>>
>> Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for $2.79
>
> And brocolli for $2.45.
>
> Leaks are a good price though at $1.99
>
> elaine


Underground stuff, like leeks, don't suffer as much, unless they get totally
whacked by frost when the plants are still tiny.

Dave Smith wrote:

> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> shortages.


Happens every winter. Between now and spring produce is at it's
crappiest. Buy what's seasonal, or on sale.


Dawn

Ward Abbott wrote:
>
> On Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:31:01 -0500, Dave Smith
> > wrote:
>
> >The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> >shortages.
>
> We had to go all the way to Florida to find some global warming and it
> ain't there either!


It was here for November and December. Half way through January the mercury
went for a nose dive.

On Feb 9, 5:09�pm, Dawn > wrote:
> Dave Smith wrote:
> > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> > of the vegetables. *The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> > shortages.
>
> Happens every winter. Between now and spring produce is at it's
> crappiest. Buy what's seasonal, or on sale.

Buy frozen.

Dave Smith wrote:
> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> shortages.


Buy frozen vegs during the winter, except for tomatoes (buy them canned.)

Bob

Hello, Dave!
You wrote on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:59:59 -0500:


DS> Goomba38 wrote:
??>>
??>> Dave Smith wrote:
??>>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
??>>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather
??>>> in parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.
??>>
??>> Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for $2.79
??>>

The vegetable crops in the Central Valley of California were
devastated by the cold weather as were the orange groves but
some prices have not gone up. I was surprised to see that
grapefruit were just about the same price as weeks ago and
canteloupes are quite reasonable.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

zxcvbob wrote:
>
> Dave Smith wrote:
> > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> > of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> > shortages.
>
> Buy frozen vegs during the winter, except for tomatoes (buy them canned.)


There are some vegetables that freeze well and some that I prefer fresh.
Broccoli, is much better fresh. We don't use a lot of tomatoes in our
house. I like frozen peas and Brussels Sprouts. Carrots are a root crop,
so it doesn't really matter much, still better "fresh" than canned or
frozen.

In article >,
Dawn > wrote:
> Happens every winter. Between now and spring produce is at it's
> crappiest. Buy what's seasonal, or on sale.
>
>
> Dawn

I've been delighted to find avocadoes for less than a buck each. And
they've been uniformly good!
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller - Winter pic and a snow pic
http://jamlady.eboard.com
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor

James Silverton wrote:

> Hello, Dave!
> You wrote on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:59:59 -0500:
>
>
> DS> Goomba38 wrote:
> ??>>
> ??>> Dave Smith wrote:
> ??>>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
> ??>>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather
> ??>>> in parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.
> ??>>
> ??>> Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for $2.79
> ??>>
>
> The vegetable crops in the Central Valley of California were
> devastated by the cold weather as were the orange groves but
> some prices have not gone up. I was surprised to see that
> grapefruit were just about the same price as weeks ago and
> canteloupes are quite reasonable.


My local stupormarket has decent head lettuce for 69 cents per head (has
been as high as two bucks), and okay (not huge but somewhat knobby) red bell
peppers have been running around $1.49 - 2.00 per lb...nice grapefruit for
49 cents per lb. This is in Chicago...

I've yet to see broccoli at a decent price, even around the holidays when
it's usually down to 39 - 49 per lb. Has not been below a buck at best.
I've been using frozen or using something else...

Have been shopping the Asian and Hispanic markets on the North Side of
Chicago lately, prices are generally cheaper there. Have scored some
beautiful and cheap basils, Asian greens for stir - fries, etc. But I can't
find a decent snake bean to save myself...

--
Best
Greg

zxcvbob wrote:

> Dave Smith wrote:
> > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of
some
> > of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed
for
> > shortages.
>
>
> Buy frozen vegs during the winter, except for tomatoes (buy them canned.)
>


What I do with the crummy winter tomatoes is to quarter and seed them,
heavily salt them, and then leave them in a colander overnight in a warm
place (on top of stove or even in the oven, top of fridge...). Some of
their moisure drains and the salt (I use garlic salt) brings out their
flavor a bit. They are somewhat palatable, at least for salads...

But yeah, it's mostly canned or do without fresh entirely...

If I want a tomato - ey taste in a salad, it's very easy to make a tomato -
based dressing...in fact I make all my salad dressings these daze.

--
Best
Greg

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> shortages.

A decent stalk of celery in our local Sobey's yesterday was 3.99 (SW
Ontario, Canada) Since I was going to use it for soup, I bought a
lesser quality at our no frills, but it was 1.99.....Sharon

"biig" > wrote

> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of
>> some
>> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed
>> for
>> shortages.
>
> A decent stalk of celery in our local Sobey's yesterday was 3.99 (SW
> Ontario, Canada) Since I was going to use it for soup, I bought a
> lesser quality at our no frills, but it was 1.99.....

While we are on the subject of sticker shock, I had on my list, pick up
some aluminum foil. I get the Reynold's Wrap 200 ft. Am I completely
out of touch, or is $8.49 a really steep price for that?? I put it back
down.

Regarding the price of cauliflower, the prices mentioned sound okay
to me, but then the stuff was off the charts during the low carb craze.
At least by me, cauliflower was over 5 dollars apiece!

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "biig" > wrote
>
>> Dave Smith wrote:
>>>
>>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of
>>> some
>>> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed
>>> for
>>> shortages.
>>
>> A decent stalk of celery in our local Sobey's yesterday was 3.99 (SW
>> Ontario, Canada) Since I was going to use it for soup, I bought a
>> lesser quality at our no frills, but it was 1.99.....
>
> While we are on the subject of sticker shock, I had on my list, pick up
> some aluminum foil. I get the Reynold's Wrap 200 ft. Am I completely
> out of touch, or is $8.49 a really steep price for that?? I put it back
> down.
> nancy


$8.49??? What supermarket chain do you shop at? That *had* to be a
mistake, or they're out of their minds.

"JoeSpareBedroom" > wrote

> "Nancy Young" > wrote

>> While we are on the subject of sticker shock, I had on my list, pick up
>> some aluminum foil. I get the Reynold's Wrap 200 ft. Am I completely
>> out of touch, or is $8.49 a really steep price for that?? I put it back
>> down.

> $8.49??? What supermarket chain do you shop at? That *had* to be a
> mistake, or they're out of their minds.

I did a huge doubletake. Surely my eyes deceived me, it's $3.49.
Nope. I will look again next time I go.

Then again, I was astonished a few weeks ago to find that the bread
I often buy is $3.49 a loaf. Believe it or not, I can be a little
oblivious.
(laugh)

nancy (ps it was Acme. I don't normally have issues with their prices)

In article >,
"elaine" > wrote:

> And brocolli for $2.45.
>
> Leaks are a good price though at $1.99

Good price for a plumber. ;-)

Leeks are delicious too...

Cheers!

>
> elaine
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed
> for
> shortages.

I work at a grocery store and I won't buy produce at what we're charging.
Tomatoes are $3.49 lb. Bell peppers $4.99. Packaged spinach was on sale for
$2.99 a cello 8 oz. bag. I went to a local store (only two stores in the
whole chain) and bought the same spinach for 99 cents a bag. I went to the
farmers market and bought tomatoes in better shape and texture for 89
cents/lb. You have to watch what and where you buy and you can make out
okay, but still the prices are going through the roof at regular grocery
stores for fresh (and I use that term loosely) produce. If the farmers
markets put out produce kept and looking the way the grocery stores do, they
would go under.
-ginny

"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed
> for
> shortages.

When lettuce hit $2 for a small head, I just passed it by. Evidently many
others did too; two days later, it was on the used food cart for 79¢ so I
bought it then.

Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:

>
> I found some really nice avocados at Sam's club but did not buy them. They
> were well under a buck but you had to buy a huge bag of them. I don't need
> them right now but I'm hoping the price holds when I need some nice
> avocados.

They were cheap here, too, but nobody will eat them in our house except me.

Brocolli I got last week for $1.99 was 3.99 this week, and the 99c
asparagus was $4.99 this week. Yikes!

So I got green beans @1.88, and red chard and beets for 1.99. And a
whole bunch of salmon steaks that were 99c each.



Dawn

In article >,
"Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote:



> stores for fresh (and I use that term loosely) produce. If the farmers
> markets put out produce kept and looking the way the grocery stores do, they
> would go under.


Lots of little produce stands buy their produce from the same place the
supermarkets do.

In article >,
zxcvbob > wrote:

> Dave Smith wrote:
> > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> > of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> > shortages.
>
>
> Buy frozen vegs during the winter, except for tomatoes (buy them canned.)


Good advice, but with the freezes, perhaps the frozen vegies will be
expensive also.

biig wrote:
>
> Dave Smith wrote:
> >
> > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> > of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> > shortages.
>
> A decent stalk of celery in our local Sobey's yesterday was 3.99 (SW
> Ontario, Canada) Since I was going to use it for soup, I bought a
> lesser quality at our no frills, but it was 1.99.....Sharon

Ah yes,.... celery.... that was the one that really stunned me. I don't
usually do much shopping at out local Sobey's because I find them
expensive, but I had been to the local butcher and didn't want to back
track and head to t "the city" for the few other things I needed. So I
went to Sobey's for the few things i needed. The celery was outrageously
expensive but I needed <?> it because we are having Buffalo wings and you
just aren't wings unless you have celery sticks and blue cheese
dressing...... and beer.... lots of beer.

Hello, Edwin!
You wrote on Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:31:53 -0500:


EP> "Dave Smith" > wrote in message
EP> ...
??>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
??>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather in
??>> parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.

EP> When lettuce hit $2 for a small head, I just passed it by.
EP> Evidently many others did too; two days later, it was on
EP> the used food cart for 79¢ so I bought it then.

You can make some pretty good salads, especially oriental but
Italian too, with shredded cabbage.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Dawn > wrote in
:

> Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
>
>>
>> I found some really nice avocados at Sam's club but did not
>> buy them. They were well under a buck but you had to buy a
>> huge bag of them. I don't need them right now but I'm hoping
>> the price holds when I need some nice avocados.
>
> They were cheap here, too, but nobody will eat them in our
> house except me.
>
> Brocolli I got last week for $1.99 was 3.99 this week, and the
> 99c asparagus was $4.99 this week. Yikes!
>
> So I got green beans @1.88, and red chard and beets for 1.99.
> And a whole bunch of salmon steaks that were 99c each.
>
>
>
> Dawn

Grocery down the street (large chain), tomatoes $1.49 #, broc &
caulflower $2.49 #. Lettuce $1.94 a head.

Went to an Asian market to look for spices and found the tomatoes
..88 # (they were small but firm/not Roma) and cauliflower $1.18 a
head!

James Silverton wrote:
> Hello, Edwin!
> You wrote on Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:31:53 -0500:
>
>
> EP> "Dave Smith" > wrote in message
> EP> ...
> ??>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
> ??>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather in
> ??>> parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.
>
> EP> When lettuce hit $2 for a small head, I just passed it by.
> EP> Evidently many others did too; two days later, it was on
> EP> the used food cart for 79¢ so I bought it then.
>
> You can make some pretty good salads, especially oriental but Italian
> too, with shredded cabbage.
>



I bought a 3 pound bag of broccoli florets at Sam's Club earlier this
week (a little less than $5.) I've been eating raw broccoli salads this
week. Chop the broc kind of finely; add chopped onions, croutons, and
French or Caesar dressing. And a little shredded lettuce, carrot, or
cabbage if all broccoli is just too weird for you.

Bob

zxcvbob said...

> James Silverton wrote:
>> Hello, Edwin!
>> You wrote on Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:31:53 -0500:
>>
>>
>> EP> "Dave Smith" > wrote in message
>> EP> ...
>> ??>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
>> ??>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather in
>> ??>> parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.
>>
>> EP> When lettuce hit $2 for a small head, I just passed it by.
>> EP> Evidently many others did too; two days later, it was on
>> EP> the used food cart for 79¢ so I bought it then.
>>
>> You can make some pretty good salads, especially oriental but Italian
>> too, with shredded cabbage.
>>
>
>
>
> I bought a 3 pound bag of broccoli florets at Sam's Club earlier this
> week (a little less than $5.) I've been eating raw broccoli salads this
> week. Chop the broc kind of finely; add chopped onions, croutons, and
> French or Caesar dressing. And a little shredded lettuce, carrot, or
> cabbage if all broccoli is just too weird for you.
>
> Bob


The produce market here in Philly has hass avocados for $0.79/ea.

A healthy bunch o' basil is still $1.00.

Andy

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> biig wrote:
> >
> > Dave Smith wrote:
> > >
> > > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> > > of the vegetables. The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> > > shortages.
> >
> > A decent stalk of celery in our local Sobey's yesterday was 3.99 (SW
> > Ontario, Canada) Since I was going to use it for soup, I bought a
> > lesser quality at our no frills, but it was 1.99.....Sharon
>
> Ah yes,.... celery.... that was the one that really stunned me. I don't
> usually do much shopping at out local Sobey's because I find them
> expensive, but I had been to the local butcher and didn't want to back
> track and head to t "the city" for the few other things I needed. So I
> went to Sobey's for the few things i needed. The celery was outrageously
> expensive but I needed <?> it because we are having Buffalo wings and you
> just aren't wings unless you have celery sticks and blue cheese
> dressing...... and beer.... lots of beer.

I shop at both stores. In our small town, they are basically side by
each. I buy the staples that are the same price as no frills, and the
items that no frills don't stock. DH likes the deli cut lunchmeats
rather than packaged stuff. Their veggies are usually better quality
for most, but priced accordingly. Recently, my son's best friend took
over the Sobey's and I like to patronize them as much as possible, but
don't spend extra there because of it. I pick and choose what I buy in
which store. Works for my budget.....Sharon

Dan Abel wrote:
> *zxcvbob wrote:
> > Dave Smith wrote:
> > > Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at the prices of some
> > > of the vegetables. *The cold weather in parts of the US is being blamed for
> > > shortages.
>
> > Buy frozen vegs during the winter, except for tomatoes (buy them canned..)
>
> Good advice, but with the freezes, perhaps the frozen vegies will be
> expensive also.

I doubt it. The majority of frozen vegetables were harvested and
processed long before before the freeze and are warehoused. And a lot
of the salad stuff is normally imported from other countrys during our
colder months anyway. It's mostly the US grove/orchard produce that
was affected, but an awful lot of juice citrus normally comes to the
US from Central America, really only eating citrus is affected. If
you see extraordinarilly high prices on frozen and even canned produce
then your store is price gouging, shop elsewhere... and keep in mind
that salad veggies are normally much higher priced in the US during
winter months. But there are still many winter vegetables one can use
to prepare salads... not just slaws from cabbage (and there are many
varieties of cabbage)... there are many root vegetables available
during winter. The classic tossed lettuce salad is not the be all to
end all, in fact the other types of salads are far more nutritious.
There are infinite renditions of Waldorf style salads, only limited by
ones imagination. Remember your nuts, twigs, and seeds, bananas,
pineapple, turnips, carrots, and don't forget all the dried fruits;
raisins, prunes, crasins, and don't forget to eat your dates.

Sheldons

"Dan Abel" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Virginia Tadrzynski" > wrote:
>
>
>
>> stores for fresh (and I use that term loosely) produce. If the farmers
>> markets put out produce kept and looking the way the grocery stores do,
>> they
>> would go under.
>
>
> Lots of little produce stands buy their produce from the same place the
> supermarkets do.

This is true, but the green grocers usually have a better turn around and
don't try to stretch the shelf life. The local would rather mark down and
sell than to keep it at an inflated rate. More mom and pops know more about
shelf life and dated items than grocery chains do.

"Andy" <q> wrote in message ...
> zxcvbob said...
>
>> James Silverton wrote:
>>> Hello, Edwin!
>>> You wrote on Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:31:53 -0500:
>>>
>>>
>>> EP> "Dave Smith" > wrote in message
>>> EP> ...
>>> ??>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
>>> ??>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather in
>>> ??>> parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.
>>>
>>> EP> When lettuce hit $2 for a small head, I just passed it by.
>>> EP> Evidently many others did too; two days later, it was on
>>> EP> the used food cart for 79¢ so I bought it then.
>>>
>>> You can make some pretty good salads, especially oriental but Italian
>>> too, with shredded cabbage.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I bought a 3 pound bag of broccoli florets at Sam's Club earlier this
>> week (a little less than $5.) I've been eating raw broccoli salads this
>> week. Chop the broc kind of finely; add chopped onions, croutons, and
>> French or Caesar dressing. And a little shredded lettuce, carrot, or
>> cabbage if all broccoli is just too weird for you.
>>
>> Bob
>
>
> The produce market here in Philly has hass avocados for $0.79/ea.
>
> A healthy bunch o' basil is still $1.00.
>
> Andy

Which one, Andy?
-ginny
who remembers certain produce stands in Philly fondly.

Virginia Tadrzynski said...

>
> "Andy" <q> wrote in message ...

>> The produce market here in Philly has hass avocados for $0.79/ea.
>>
>> A healthy bunch o' basil is still $1.00.
>>
>> Andy
>
> Which one, Andy?
> -ginny
> who remembers certain produce stands in Philly fondly.


ginny,

Gentile's Produce in Newtown Square has the avos for $0.79.

Produce Junction in Broomall has the $1.00 bunches of basil.

Both are in Delaware County. I just say Philadelphia for the benefit of the
r.f.c membership. I'm probably about 15 miles out of Philly as the crow
flies.

Andy
Media, PA

On Feb 9, 2:50 pm, "James Silverton"
<not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
> Hello, Dave!
> You wrote on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:59:59 -0500:
>
> DS> Goomba38 wrote:
>
> ??>>
> ??>> Dave Smith wrote:
> ??>>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
> ??>>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather
> ??>>> in parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.
> ??>>
> ??>> Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for $2.79
> ??>>
>
> The vegetable crops in the Central Valley of California were
> devastated by the cold weather as were the orange groves but
> some prices have not gone up. I was surprised to see that
> grapefruit were just about the same price as weeks ago and
> canteloupes are quite reasonable.
>
> James Silverton
> Potomac, Maryland
>
> E-mail, with obvious alterations:
> not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not


Jim,

I live in the foothills above the Central Valley, and I happened to go
to a farmers' market yesterday. They said give it a week or two tops
and things should be pretty much back to normal for row crops. The
citrus is of course wiped out for the season. And the stone fruit and
nuts are still dormant, but the buds could have been damaged. Only
time will tell, but they think things should be okay for stone fruit
and nuts.

By the way, I noticed the prices at the farmers' market didn't go up
like at the supermarket.

Ken

Ken wrote:

> I live in the foothills above the Central Valley, and I happened to go
> to a farmers' market yesterday. They said give it a week or two tops
> and things should be pretty much back to normal for row crops. The
> citrus is of course wiped out for the season. And the stone fruit and
> nuts are still dormant, but the buds could have been damaged. Only
> time will tell, but they think things should be okay for stone fruit
> and nuts.

On the other side of this, if the peach farmers here in South Carolina
don't get enough freeze the crops are poorer. They require something
like 34 days or so?? I'm not sure if that means consecutive days or
what? California grows a lot of peaches, I wonder if they require the
same conditions? Will anything actually benefit from California's cold
snap?

On Feb 11, 2:25 pm, Goomba38 > wrote:
> Ken wrote:
> > I live in the foothills above the Central Valley, and I happened to go
> > to a farmers' market yesterday. They said give it a week or two tops
> > and things should be pretty much back to normal for row crops. The
> > citrus is of course wiped out for the season. And the stone fruit and
> > nuts are still dormant, but the buds could have been damaged. Only
> > time will tell, but they think things should be okay for stone fruit
> > and nuts.
>
> On the other side of this, if the peach farmers here in South Carolina
> don't get enough freeze the crops are poorer. They require something
> like 34 days or so?? I'm not sure if that means consecutive days or
> what? California grows a lot of peaches, I wonder if they require the
> same conditions? Will anything actually benefit from California's cold
> snap?

Kings County is the next county to the west and they said they have
zero damage and all their stone fruit is happier because of the cold
snap. It's the same thing everywhe All stone fruit requires what
they call chill hours, or hours below freezing, to have a good crop
the next year. All fruit types and all varieties of each fruit have
different chill hour requirements. And the chill hours really apply
only to commercial growers who need to maximize their crops. A peach
tree in your yard produces more than one family could ever use, but
that extra 10% is the grower's profit.

And different parts of the Valley are very different in soil type,
ground water level, air temp., etc. Right down the hill from me, the
citrus looks good because it's a bit higher elevation. But the cold
air slid down to the lower parts of the Valley and they really took a
hit.

Life in the country.

Ken

Hello, Ken!
You wrote on 11 Feb 2007 14:19:39 -0800:

K> On Feb 9, 2:50 pm, "James Silverton"
K> <not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
??>> Hello, Dave!
??>> You wrote on Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:59:59 -0500:
??>>
DS>>> Goomba38 wrote:
??>>
??>>>> Dave Smith wrote:
??>>>>> Holy cow. I was out shopping today and was astounded at
??>>>>> the prices of some of the vegetables. The cold weather
??>>>>> in parts of the US is being blamed for shortages.
??>>>>
??>>>> Yeah, I saw it last week. A head of cauliflower for
??>>>> $2.79
??>>
??>> The vegetable crops in the Central Valley of California
??>> were devastated by the cold weather as were the orange
??>> groves but some prices have not gone up. I was surprised
??>> to see that grapefruit were just about the same price as
??>> weeks ago and canteloupes are quite reasonable.
??>>
??>> James Silverton
??>> Potomac, Maryland
??>>
??>> E-mail, with obvious alterations:
??>> not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

K> Jim,

K> I live in the foothills above the Central Valley, and I
K> happened to go to a farmers' market yesterday. They said
K> give it a week or two tops and things should be pretty much
K> back to normal for row crops. The citrus is of course wiped
K> out for the season. And the stone fruit and nuts are still
K> dormant, but the buds could have been damaged. Only time
K> will tell, but they think things should be okay for stone
K> fruit and nuts.

K> By the way, I noticed the prices at the farmers' market
K> didn't go up like at the supermarket.


Well, that's a little encouraging! It is of course traditional
for farmers to proclaim that disaster has struck if given the
chance:-) I read that the citrus crop could be turned into juice
as well.


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not