Angelic Organics 2008 Week 3 Fruit Newsletter

Ethylene Gas and Your Grocery Bill: Organize Your Fridge!

From Cooking by Kittee

Most fruits and vegetables generate ethylene gas while they ripen. Why should you care? This gas is a very active plant hormone, and if you don't get organized, it can get busy with your vegetables and jack up your monthly grocery bill. Leafy vegetables are very sensitive to ethylene, even in very low quantities. Lettuce, for example, begins to decay when exposed to ethylene gas at low temperatures, i.e. even in your refrigerator! Products sensitive to ethylene gas, such as broccoli and bananas, will spoil quickly if stored in the same areas as avocados, melons, and apples, which are ethylene producers. So if you want to be smart; get segregating! Keep your veggies apart and make your food last longer.

Ethylene Table

(Usually fruits produce, and vegetables are sensitive to ethylene)

EP:Ethylene Producer

ES: Ethylene Sensitive

EN: Ethylene Neutral

Valencia Oranges (EN) are grown by the Lehr brothers in CA. The Lehr brothers have been in business since 1943. They are growers of potatoes and oranges. They started growing organic potatoes over 8 years ago and have been transitioning orange groves to organic for 3 years now. Valencia oranges originated on the Iberian Peninsula and are the world’s most important commercial variety. Valencias are thin-skinned, nearly seedless, and excellent juicers whose juice doesn’t lose its vitamin C overnight in the refrigerator. Store oranges in a cool place outside the refrigerator and try to eat them within a few days. If you need to keep them longer, refrigerate in a plastic bag or in the vegetable crisper section of the refrigerator.

Red Rainier Cherries (EN) are grown by Cervantes. Cervantes farms almost 950 acres in the Sunnyside & Grandview area of the Lower Yakima Valley in WA. Cervantes began as nurserymen with a grafting business. Follow this link to a Seattle Article about this variety of cherry. It is very important to store cherries in the coldest part of your refrigerator, usually near the back and bottom. The rule of thumb with cherries, as with berries, is not to wash the fruit until you are ready to eat. Not washing helps extend the storage life of the cherries.

Babcock White Peaches (EP) are also grown by Naylor Farms in San Joaquin valley in California. 'Babcock' bears small to medium freestone peaches, with light pinkish skin, little fuzz, and white flesh turning red near pit. Sweet with some tang, early bearing heritage variety. Handle them gently, their skin is delicate. At home, store peaches on the counter at room temperature until ripe. To quicken the ripening process, place peaches in a paper bag until fully ripe. Adding ethylene-producing fruit like bananas and apple into the paper bag will accelerate further the ripening process.

Ataulfo Mangoes (EP) are grown by Salvador Parra in Mexico. Ataulfo mangos are very sweet. A deep golden yellow when ripe, they are rich in flavor and close to fiber-free. As with all tropical fruit, whole unripe mangoes should never be stored in the refrigerator. Unripe mangoes will ripen when left on a counter-top. Once ripe, mangoes can be stored in the refrigerator, but should be eaten within a few days.

Santa Rosa Plums (EP) are from Frog Hollow in California. See Week 1 fruit newsletter for a link to their website and some great recipes. These plums have a purplish-crimson skin with the light freckling that is characteristic of all Rosa type plums. The flesh is tart and red at the pit, radiating into sweet yellow flesh near the skin. We recommend letting their skin ripen just past springy to soft. Ripening this long helps to soften the bracing tartness of the skin. Kids that have a sour tooth will really love these.

We found a recipe for Fresh Spring Rolls with Plum Sauce at this link when reading about Naylor Farms (Scroll to the bottom)

Hass Avocado (ES) are grown by West Pak in California. When the fruit yields to gentle finger pressure, it is ready to be eaten. Store at room temperature until ripe. Monitor daily to check for ripeness. Storing near other ethylene producers accelerates the ripening process and may result in rot if you don't watch closely enough.

West Pak grows conventional and organic avocados. They have an excellent reputation for following good growing practices, and their fruit is considered top of the line by most in the industry. Our fruit buyer, Rick would prefer to source avocados from smaller growers and cooperatives, but last years' fires in San Diego county did a lot of damage to back-lying avocado orchards, hitting the "little guys" especially hard. Though fruit is readily available, the choices on who to get it from are rather limited. West Pak has a sterling reputation from everyone that does business with them (growers, and customers).

Yellow Nectarines (EP) are grown by David Harris farms on his family ranch outside of Parlier, CA (he grew up there with his sister Karen who also grows tree fruit--Dick and Karen Peterson). He has been certified organic since 1995. David grows a well rounded mix of soft fruit--peaches, nectarines, pluots, plums. (Note: These nectarines are marketed by Homegrown Organics who works very hard for a number of central valley farms. "They've got their heart and head in the right place." says our fruit buyer, Rick.) Ripe nectarines should yield to gentle pressure along the “seam” and produce a sweet aroma. Ideally ripen at room temperature (not exceeding 78° F). Move to cold storage and eat within 1-3 days. Longer storage will diminish their juicy flavor.