Blog

Randy Hooper - September 2, 2011
Category: Produce Update

One of the hardest things in our industry, especially organic, is the transitions from import to local and back again, as well as the transitions from region to region.  We hate the bad ones, when the market gaps, or crops come on unexpectedly early or late.  We also celebrate the good ones.  Well, here’s one:  We ran out of NZ Gala apples today, and our first B.C. Gala arrive Sunday from Spence’s Bridge – the hottest, fastest home for B.C. tree fruit! 

Fog and drizzle have messed up current blueberry harvests, but there is still lots of immature fruit.  We will see a mid-week gap, and then should be back in good shape a week out. 

We have unseasonal hot, dry weather in the forecast 7 days out, and as much as forecasts are just that, we’re going to go with this one!  Many growers have switched to machine picking for frozen. 

We are packing all our stonefruit in modified atmosphere bags which contain a natural mineral that slows ripening – it’s sort of like magic – which is why we are still shipping beautiful cherries, apricots and plums.  Good supply on all – with the last cherries in this morning, picked fresh yesterday!  It seems that no one is sick of cherries after all – considering how many we’re moving. 

Another load of FT avocado and FT grapefruit are now arriving Wednesday – we shouldn’t have any gaps, and have an abundance of 24’s on special.

B.C. pear season is upon us, as well as plums, in a glorious display of colour – inside and out!  Traypack Bartletts in Saturday!

Bagged kiwi are on the list but we will be packaging bulk during the week as we have run out of bagged fruit. 

Should be a great week for melon and watermelon sales – lots of Washington and B.C. in stock – several varieties.

Continuing increase of local veggies. 

+Continue reading Produce Update - stonefruit is still in good supply+
Randy Hooper - August 31, 2011
Category: Produce Update

The last of our Southern Hemisphere apples will be gone any moment.  If you want Gala or Pink Lady, we’d suggest you grab it in the next day or two.

Varieties on BC apples will be limited for a short time, with Sunrise being the only mid-season apple in any reasonable supply right now.  Gala should start in a few day – then it’s game on for Macs, Golds etc. 

Apricot and peach supply is huge this year, and the season is getting stretched out with no heat wave speeding things up. 

Cherries are still being harvested in the North Okanagan – we are still expecting to have supply for quite some time on Sweethearts. 

Blueberries are also doing incredibly well. 

We usually have rain one out of three days in late August, but so far there hasn’t been hardly a drop.   

Kent mangoes continue to sell through quickly, and with conventional nearly out, sales are escalating, but we expect to be in good shape for another 2 weeks. 

There are California Keitts out there but pricing is still through the roof at this point.  Cantaloupe is the melon of the moment, with very competitive pricing on California, and some B.C. supply starting to come on. 

We are selling B.C. plums faster than they come in and continue to supplement with the last California varieties. Sales in the plum category continue to grow year over year and is one category not to be over-looked. 

+Continue reading The Produce Update- apple supply and the story of BC garlic+
Randy Hooper - August 26, 2011
Category: Produce Update

The end is near for Southern apples, with spot-picking on BC Gala starting in a week, and some Sunrise available.  The market is going to be tight for 3 weeks until good volumes start coming off.  3 of 4 organic packers are already out of Sunrise apples.

Blueberry volume is excellent, with the weather now unseasonably warm and dry for this time of year.  Cherries are plentiful, with growers north of Kelowna and in the Creston Valley still packing – what an incredible run – we don’t think we have ever seen B.C. cherries go this long – we expect good availability right through the Labour Day weekend.   

Tonnage of apricots left – and that includes a rather overwhelming amount of #2 product.  These are mostly down-graded because they are too small for fancy status, with over 80% retail quality. 

Avocado sales are brisk.  We are including Fair Trade labels in the boxes – they weren’t ready for this load, or the next one packing right now.  Same story for Grapefruit from Planeta Verde, which are sensational by the way. 

Limes are very tight, with wind damage from tropical storms over the last month reducing volumes.  We are hoping to load more from Javiar Moreno next week in Tecoman.

Mango sales continue strong – we expect to be in stock well into September on the excellent Baja crop.  Normally growers rush to pick fruit in hurricane season, but all tropical storms that have developed over the last month have been “fish” storms – all going out to sea and missing the Baja peninsula. 

Of course, this great run of weather is keeping the melon deal going strong, with excellent supply from California, Washington, and a few local varieties starting to pick up speed.

+Continue reading Produce Update: 250 BC listings plus the scoop on tomatoes+
Randy Hooper - August 24, 2011
Category: Produce Update

Having spent the last few days in 44C+ temps seeing fields being prepped and seeds dropped in Mexico, it’s very nice to be back to what we think of as summer.

We made a nice big deal last week about Earligold apples, everyone wanted, and every pallet packed sold out literally in days.  Sunrise are just being packed now for Friday’s list.  We should be out of NZ Gala in a few days, with just a few Southern high pressure apple varieties left to last through the next month before the B.C. crop of late apples starts.

Apricot market is still strong, with pricing hitting the bottom this week.  With grading of the latest varieties finishing off, lots of canning grade fruit is out there- for your “kerr jar” crowd, good time to take orders for jam grade cots! 

Cherries are still talk of the town – we have a great selection, stunning quality and should be in great shape for another 2-3 weeks, with some fruit still on the trees. 

Not having a big blast of heat through the Interior this year has really helped keep the fruit firm and longer on the trees.

Melon selection is excellent, with beautiful Honeydews from JW, lots of cants, small amounts of B.C., plus the incredible Jade Star watermelons from Inaba. We’d appreciate some help on the last of our California nectarines as B.C. is ramping up. 

The first BC pears, Red Klapperton are packing today, and Bartletts are only a week away. 

There’s a blurr of red as JW strawberries fly in and out the door.

BC field semi-tropicals are coming on in full force, and you’ll notice a continually expanding range of summer squash, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes appear on the list for the next 3 weeks or more.

No significant gaps on leafy greens right now, although supply continues to be out-stripped by demand.

+Continue reading Produce Update- BC apricots, bartletts and summer squash+
Miranda Radok - August 23, 2011
Category: Farm Update

We were happy to donate a couple cases of perfect BC cherries for this past weekend's Okanagan Feast of Fields event.

Apparently they were a hit with attendees of this celebration of local food and local chefs.

Thanks very much to our friends at Choices Market for making Sproule's cherries part of their sampling display. And what a handsome display it was!

+Continue reading Sproule and Sons cherries featured at Feast of Fields Okanagan+
Miranda Radok - August 22, 2011
Category: Crop Alert

Hard to believe on this rainy day, but we received a large shipment of beautiful BC organic strawberries from Covert Farms this weekend.

Here is such a strawberry growing right there at Covert Farms in Oliver BC.

Call us for hot pricing.

+Continue reading BC strawberries from Covert Farms are in the house+
Randy Hooper - August 19, 2011
Category: Produce Update

Local apples are flying out the door faster than they are coming in, as well as the last of our NZ supply. 

Apricots are abundant, and should be a showcase fruit for the next couple of weeks as we wind down to the end of the season. 

The weather is with us, and predicted rain has vanished from the forecasts, which is great news for the blueberry crop – usually an iffy game in the last 10 days of August. 5# boxes continue to be the best seller!

We’re delighted that our new crop Fair Trade avocado and grapefruit have arrived from Planeta Verde Coop in Michoacan.  They all just arrived in perfect condition. 

Cherries continue to be in much higher demand this year.  People sometimes get burned out in the last ½ of August, but with such a late start we’re not seeing that at all, and with growers still picking for another week, we expect good supply well past Labour Day!  What a crazy year! 

Grapes are arriving in great shape, and prices are off with a California glut continuing.  We have an abundance of beautiful mangoes, grabbing the last pick out of Santiago (a couple of hours north of Cabo).  These undipped beauties turn every colour of the rainbow as they ripen! 

Bargain hunting time on cantaloupe, with great prices on cantaloupe, and honeydews starting in Central California. 

Our first local muskmelons (cantaloupe) are just starting to trickle in from Osoyoos as well.  Many choices on watermelon – we’re now into the thick of the eastern Washington crop – those perfect sized round dark green Jade Star’s are truly incredible. 

Great pricing on the last of the California nectarines as the first B.C. crop hits the stage. We just got word that local Bartletts are nearly ready to pick, and are coming “on time”, while everything else in the local fruit department runs weeks late.  We expect those in about 7 – 10 days.

+Continue reading Produce Update BC melons and fair trade avo's and grapefruit are in the house!+
Randy Hooper - August 17, 2011
Category: Produce Update

We are slowly transitioning from NZ to BC apples, but the first of the local apples are sparse pickings until the first Sunrise and early Gala’s come on – and not for another 2 weeks or so.  We are down to dregs on Braeburn, down to Fuji 80’s but have good supply on Gala 100 with a few pallets of Gala 110 left. 

Clamshell cots are a super-hit, with good supply for about 10 more days. 

Blueberry season is booming – keep your fingers crossed that our normal late August rains don’t mess with this!  All packs in good supply. 

Cherries are also hopping – we’re super lucky that two rainstorms in the past 7 days skirted both our primary growers. 

Lapins are still coming off the trees, with Staccato still firming up, and Sweethearts will hit the list big-time next week.  Once again, we are selling cherries with little margin to move what are very impressive volumes. 

We have listed Planeta Verde Fairtrade Avo’s and Grapefruit, but the truck won’t be here until Friday sometime, just so ya’ know. 

Stunning cantaloupe at sensational prices! 

A wee gap on pineapple, more arriving in a few days – and besides, with all the great local fruit, stunning mangoes, and cantaloupe out there, no one should even notice! 

Holy Dinah – 11 plum listings – the beginning of a flood of B.C. varieties will slowly replace the last of our California varieties over the next 10 days or so.  Don’t miss out on the last of the Dapple Dandy’s – just a sensational plum! 

A small flush of local strawberries, but jump fast – supply is definitely limited.

With glee we kicked another 10 California listings off today, replaced with BC and WA product – just keeping that carbon down! 

Destiny Lane carrots are back for a 4 month run.  This is our favourite carrot – we should call them “Cawston Sweets”, and in convenient smaller bales! 

+Continue reading Produce Update- BC apples and 11 types of plums are here, garlic on the way+
Miranda Radok - August 17, 2011

Congrats to Goat's Pride Dairy for their recent wins in Montreal at the American Cheese Society annual awards.

Both the Goats Pride plain feta and the cranberry caprabella earned third place ribbons at the event, which saw over 1,600 entries in 108 categories. Nice work GP!

Goat's Pride is one of a dozen BC companies in our Enclosure Program. If you'd like to order Goat's Pride cheeses, you can have it co-shipped with your Discovery order. See our Enclosure Program page for details.

+Continue reading Discovery enclosure partner Goat's Pride Dairy wins two awards+
Ursula Twiss - August 16, 2011
Category: Hot Shots

Dear Ones,

I have been checking myself in the mornings, checking my mind for the invention of discomfort, of trouble or sorrow.  Before I even get out of bed, I’ve been saying a sentence I got form a mother of two under the age of five, which is this: “I am excited for this day.” 

And this morning I didn’t even have to remember to say those five powerful words, the feeling flew out of my chest, all on its own.  From my bed, if you cover your ears, you can imagine that you live in the trees, in the woods, as all you can see outside the windows when your head is on the pillow, are leaves.  And this morning they were all lit from below by the rise of a climbing sun, so they were a bright and glowing green against the brilliant blue of the early morning sky.  And I thought, “I get bummed?  Like, ever? How?”

We all do.  We live in this beautiful vibrant and completely alive world that we forget is holding onto us as tightly as it can.  I suppose the message here is one I learned from a little book called “Shambhala,” that the moments you notice simple riches, those moments, the world is showing you your own goodness, is telling you that you are what you see.  You are as bright as the leaves, as lit as the sky.

File 780 As perfect as Hawfield Farm’s Heirloom Cherry Tomato Pack.  Incredibly understated, the labels just say “Organic Cherry Tomatoes” but these are definitely cherry tomatoes grown from heirloom seed.  And they’re selling like hot cakes. 

File 781 These are our baby kents, our fourteen counts.  This is the ‘personal’ size. 

+Continue reading Ursula's Hot Shots- photos of what's gorgeous and plentiful this week+