MARKET REPORT - NOV 4TH, 2015

First off – yes we have local persimmons!

Again, thanks for bearing with us as we convert all our information to new software.  There are still some programming and learning issues, so things are out of place on some price lists, and until we can sync inventory properly, there are more listings of some commodities that we actually have – but never fear – another couple of weeks and all will be well.First off – yes we have local persimmons – not many, but Ting at Formosa has let us have some.  Yes Persimmons grow here – if you are from Vancouver you may have walked past one.  There’s even a persimmons orchard in the Fraser Valley (conventional).  Because they can’t grow them in the Interior and only closer to the coast, and we don’t have big fruit production here, many people are reluctant to plant them because the trees aren’t that high, and are perfect fodder for deer and bears.  So until someone does a serious planting and builds 11 foot fences for deer and electric fences for bears we probably we won’t see much more in the future. With torrential rains hitting locally over the weekend, and dwindling production, many local growers, including the largest one – Myers have pulled the plug and we only expect dribs and drabs from all other greens producers.  Expect limited volume behind any local greens listing, and far more from the States.Prices are quite steep on lettuce and a few other things – it’s been raining in Southern Cal, and desert crops are still 2 weeks out, and the transition, as we expected will be a little ragged for a couple of weeks.We are super happy to have our first load in from Agrofresco/Ecocampos, which arrived today.  This is a much expanded program from last year, with many new trials about to erupt.  We did have some weather issues from Hurricane Patricia in that area of Mexico (near San Miguel de Allende for you tourists out there), and lettuce production was affected, so our volumes aren’t as high as we expected and fields won’t recover for another week.  Never-the-less we are tickled pink to start this program at this point.  When Gustavo Gaya from Agrofresco was up here visiting last summer, he toured Bob and Marlene Myers farm and realized that our program with him is for a similar selection (esp lettuce and kale) and starts just as they end, and ends just as they start.All else is good – we have specials built into the price list, but haven’t been able to produce a separate specials sheet yet – hoping for FridayThanks again!