New Postharvest Guide from GA

Precooling Fruits and Vegetables in Georgia by Changying "Charlie" Li, Extension Ag Engineer - This new guide from GA Cooperative Extension gives a good introduction and overview of postharvest precooling methods and requirements of common fruits and vegetables.
Rick VanVranken

Un-composted Leaves Improve Coastal Plains Soils & Save You Money

Yesterday Bob & Leda Muth kindly hosted the Rutgers Sustainable Ag students for a tour of their farm operation and soil practices. Bob’s farm has demonstrated profitable results from applying municipal collected un-composted waste leaves to Coastal Plain soils. The practice dramatically improves soil fertility, soil health, and cuts fertilizer and fungicide expenses.

Could this work for your operation? Multiple Soil Health & Economic Benefits Applying Municipal Collected Un-composted Leaves to Farmland

The Muth Family Farm is recognized as one of the leading regional farms in sustainable agriculture, soil husbandry, community supported agriculture, and organic methods that make money. 

Every visit to the Muth Farm is a learning experience. Check out the updated article on the Sustaining Farming on the Urban Fringe website, outlining his methods.

-Rabin

Clear packaging and light -- not so good for potatoes, but enhances nutrients in spinach

Potatoes turn green when exposed to light, even the artificial light in a supermarket produce department. Clear packaging is usually not the best choice for spuds. Research published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry by Lester, Makus and Hodges (2010) shows just the opposite for spinach. Vitamins C, K, E, and folate increased significantly in spinach leaves stored in clear plastic containers for 3 days under continuous light and refrigeration simulating supermarket conditions, while those stored in continuous darkness showed declining or no change in levels of nutrients. After 9 days in the lighted storage, some vitamins levels had doubled, and all had higher levels of bioactive compounds.
Rick VanVranken
References:   

• King, A. G. 2010. Research Advances: Spinach Nutrient Levels; Steering Oil Droplets; Possible Explanation of Left-Handed Preference? J. Chem. Educ., 2010, 87 (8), pp 766–769
• Lester, G. E., D. J. Makus and D. M. Hodges. 2010. Relationship between Fresh-Packaged Spinach Leaves Exposed to Continuous Light or Dark and Bioactive Contents: Effects of Cultivar, Leaf Size, and Storage DurationJ. Agric. Food Chem., 2010, 58 (5), pp 2980–2987.

 

Birds Eye on a mission

Birds Eye® Declares "It's Always Vegetable Season™" and Unveils Its "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" Campaign

Top Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Cornell Researcher Dr. Brian Wansink and Share Our Strength® Join Birds Eye for Its Vegetable Snow Farm in Union Square to Announce a Donation Commitment of Vegetables for 1 Million Meals to Help Feed Kids Better

By Pinnacle Foods Group LLC
Published: Thursday, Sep. 15, 2011 - 4:08 am

MOUNTAIN LAKES, N.J., Sept. 15, 2011 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Birds Eye®, a portfolio brand of Pinnacle Foods Group, is on a mission to help America "Discover the Wonder of Vegetables™" and announced today the launch of its new campaign with a kick-off event in New York City's Union Square, featuring an unexpected vegetable farm in the snow.

Read the entire story at: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/15/3912105/birds-eye-declares-its-always.html

What is the "Perfect" Tomato?

When I hear complaints about not being able to find a "good Jersey tomato" anymore, especially comments like "... years ago! That's when tomatoes had flavor!", I usually break out singing my Ode to the Jersey Tomato to the tune of Billy Joel's Piano Man:

  "Son, can you [grow] me a memory. I'm not really sure how it goes, ... but it's [plump] and it's sweet, and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger man's clothes. Oh la, la, la, ditty dah..." 

RickVanVranken

Well, in response to author Barry Estabrook's book 'Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit', which takes direct aim at the quality of Florida tomatoes, CNN just posted on their Eatocracy blog an interview the Florida Tomato Committee's manager Reggie Brown.

Sourcing Pumpkins and other Fall Crops

Eighteen participating states have their
own MarketMaker homepages now.

July's heat followed by the excessive rains through August have farm market operators concerned about having enough pumpkins and other crops for the lucrative Fall season. Pennsylvania, New York and DelMarVa have also been inundated with flooding rains lately, so crops may be tight there too. That's forcing us to search further west, but how does one start making contacts?

Update on Jersey Fresh Sitings

Turns out it was not an anonymous post, but the owner of the Fresh Produce group forwarded a blog post by a pompous New Yorker writing at gothamist.com. You can see the original post here.
Rick VanVranken