Origin: California

Pack: VF 25 lbs.

Availability: Good

The donut peach is a descendant of the flat peaches of China. First grown in America in the 1800's. The name was derived from the appearance, which looks like a cake donut. The peach is approximately 1 to 2 inches in height and 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The skin is pale yellow with a red blush. The pit (free-stone variety) is about the size of a pistachio nut. The white flesh is tender, juicy, and sweet tasting, similar to a nectarine. The peach has a low acid to sugar ratio, so it is sweeter than the orange flesh variety. It is an excellent addition to salads, desserts, crepes, and other dishes requiring fruit.

Origin: Washington

Pack: 16 lbs. 70 series

Availability: Good

Apricots originally hailed from China. Cuttings of this golden fruit made their way across the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean where they flourished. The Spanish explorers get credit for introducing the apricot to the New World, and specifically to California, where they were planted in the gardens of Spanish missions. In 1792, in an area south of San Francisco, the first major production of apricots was recorded.

In Europe, apricots were long considered an aphrodisiac, and is used in this context in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and as an inducer of labour, used in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi for this purpose. Dreaming of apricots, in English folklore, is said to be good luck, though the Chinese believe the fruit is a symbol of cowardice.

Apricots rank high in vitamins A (beta-carotene) and C, provide a good source of potassium, and contribute iron, calcium, phosphorus, and fiber to the diet. The bonus - they're low in fat, calories, and sodium.

Origin: California

Pack: VF 25 lbs

Availability: Good

Storage: 36° F.

Also known as a "Flat Nectarine" or "Saturn Nectarine", this is a recent mutation of flat peach with whom it shares the qualities. A new flavor worthy to discover.

A nectarine is a mutation of peach from fuzzy skinned to no fuzzy skinned, or glaucoused from pubescence.

There are a number of factors that go along with the glaucous skin of the nectarine. Nectarines generally have more red color in the skin, smaller size, more sugars, more acids, and higher density.

Origin: California

Pack: 2 layer 15 lb. 50's and 70's

Availability: Good

Storage: 36° F

Despite its name, this fruit isn't related to the mango. It is actually a cross between two varieties of pale nectarine. It is named for its texture and flavor which blends both mango and nectarine. Sweet, exotic and perfumey, they are a wonderful summer fruit, grown exclusively in California. At an immature stage the Mango Nectarine is a bright green color turning to a vivid yellow when ripe. Serve sliced in a fresh salad, in yogurt or ice cream or simply eat out of hand. The mango nectarine's season is brief, just 2 or 3 weeks in June and July, so enjoy these sweet, aromatic, California-grown beauties when you see them.

Origin: New Zealand

Pack: 11 lb.

Availability: Good. Red, Yellow or Apricot

The oca (or yam as it is called in New Zealand) is a small, red, waxy, crinkled tuber was probably a staple food item of the Andean Indians (Veitmeyer 1991). The tubers have a tangy, acid nutty flavor and are eaten mainly with roast dinners. Oca does not seem to be widely grown outside of South American countries and so appears to qualify as "one of the lost crops of the Incas"

Introduced to Europe in 1830 as a competitor to the potato and to New Zealand as early as 1860, it has become popular in that country under the name New Zealand yam and is now a common table vegetable.

The flavor is slightly tangy, and texture ranges from crunchy (like a carrot) when undercooked, to starchy or mealy when fully cooked.

The oca can be prepared like most root vegetables by being boiled, baked or fried. In the Andes it is part of stews and soups; served like potatoes or can be as served as a sweet. Oca is eaten raw in Mexico with salt, lemon and hot pepper.

Currently available are the Red, Yellow and Apricot varities.

Origin: Mexico

Pack: 10 lb.

Availability: Limited

Each of these specialty eggplants are available in a 10 lb. pack.

• Graffiti Eggplant
• Long Green Eggplant
• Baby Italian Eggplant
• Thai Eggplant

Origin: California

Pack: 1 Layer 44 count

Availability: Good

Actually this is an unusual hybridized plum/apricot. At first glance the Blue Velvet Apricot looks like a plum; round and purple. One touch reveals their slightly fuzzy, apricot-like, skin and hefty, juice laden weight. The flesh is a bright golden color.

Origin: USA

Pack: 10 lb./50 lb.

Availability: Good

These very attractive mixed marble potatoes are packed in 10 lb. or 50 lb. boxes, the varities include:

• Russian Blue
• Blushing Belle
• Baby Boomer

Origin: Vietnam

Pack: 8-12ct

Availability: Good

Also known as the Pitaya, the Dragon Fruit is a stunningly beautiful fruit with an intense colour and shape, magnificent flowers and a delicious taste. Round, often red colored fruit with prominent scales. The thin rind encloses the large mass of sweetly flavored white pulp and small black seeds.

The dragon fruit is best eaten by cutting the fruit in half and scooping the flesh out. Eating the fruit is sometimes likened to that of the kiwifruit due to a prevalence of sesame seed-sized black crunchy seeds found in the flesh of both fruits which make for a similar texture upon consumption. The flavor is very refreshing and sweet. Dragon fruits are delicious chilled and can be served in fruit juices and fruit salads or made into jam. They can also be juiced and added to alcohol to make a very delicious drink.

Origin: New Zealand

Pack: 6 x 335 gram

The cranberry is a Native American wetland fruit which grows on trailing vines like a strawberry. The vines thrive on the special combination of soils and water properties found in wetlands. Wetlands are nature's sponges; they store and purify water and help to maintain the water table.

We call the place where cranberries grow a BOG. Natural bogs evolved from deposits left by the glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. These deposits were left in impermeable kettle holes lined with clay. The clay prevents materials from leaching into the groundwater.

Rocks and other organic materials were collected by the glaciers. When the ice finally melted deposits of heavy materials were layered on top of the clay.

These kettle holes were filled with water and organic matter which created the ideal environment for cranberries. In the early 1800s Henry Hall, a veteran of the Revolutionary War who lived in Dennis noticed that sand blown in from nearby dunes helped vines grow faster.

Today, growers spread a inch or two of sand on their bogs every three years. The sand not only helps the vines grow but also slows the growth of weeds and insects.

Cranberries are an extremely versatile fruit ingredient. When incorporated into other food products, they provide an unusual, refreshing flavor as well as a rich, characteristic red color. Used in combination with other fruits, cranberries can accentuate and enhance the flavors of these fruits. Because of their health benefits, of which consumers are increasingly aware, cranberries are experiencing an expansion in their use as a baking ingredient.

These excellent cranberries are grown in New Zealand and packed in 335 gram poly bags. There are 6 bags per case.

Origin: Taiwan

Pack: 7 Kg.

Availability: Starting

One of the most praised of tropical fruits, and certainly the most esteemed fruit in the family Guttiferae, the mangosteen, Garcinia mangostana L., is almost universally known or heard of by this name. There are numerous variations in nomenclature: among Spanish-speaking people, it is called mangostan; to the French, it is mangostanier, mangoustanier, mangouste or mangostier; in Portuguese, it is mangostao, mangosta or mangusta; in Dutch, it is manggis or manggistan; in Vietnamese, mang cut; in Malaya, it may be referred to in any of these languages or by the local terms, mesetor, semetah, or sementah; in the Philippines, it is mangis or mangostan. The hard, outer shell should be cut carefully to expose the soft, white pulp within. The pulp looks like a tiny pumpkin and is in segments similar to an orange. The flavor is very sweet, flowery and tropical. The mangosteen is rarely available for wide spread distribution in the United States.

Origin: Thailand

Pack: 8 kg

Availability: Good - Starting

The longan is native to southern China, in the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Schezwan and Fukien, between elevations of 500 and 1,500 ft (150-450 m). Closely allied to the glamorous lychee, in the family Sapindaceae, the longan has been referred to as the "little brother of the lychee", or li-chihnu, "slave of the lychee". It thrives much better on higher ground than the lychee and endures more frost. It is rarely found growing along the dykes of streams as is the lychee but does especially well on high ground near ponds. The longan is more seldom grown under orchard conditions than is the lychee. There is not so large a demand for the fruit and the trees therefore more scattered although one often finds attractive groups of lungan. The longan was introduced into India in 1798 but, in Indian literature, it is averred that the longan is native not only to China but also to southwestern India and the forests of upper Assam and the Garo hills, and is cultivated in Bengal and elsewhere as an ornamental and shade tree. It is commonly grown in former Indochina (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and in Taiwan). The tree grows but does not fruit in Malaya and the Philippines. There are many of the trees in Reunion and Mauritius.

The longan was introduced into Florida from southern China by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1903 and has flourished in a few locations but never became popular. There was a young tree growing at the Agricultural Station in Bermuda in 1913. A tree planted at the Federal Experiment Station in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, was 10 ft (3 m) high in 1926, 23 ft (7 m) in 1929. A longan tree flourished in the Atkins Garden in Cuba and seedlings were distributed but found to fruit irregularly and came to be valued mostly for their shade and ornamental quality. In Hawaii, the longan was found to grow faster and more vigorously than the lychee but the fruit is regarded there as less flavorful than the lychee.

The fruit is edible, and is often used in East Asian soups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods. They are round with a thin, brown-coloured inedible shell. The flesh of the fruit, which surrounds a big, black seed, is white, soft, and juicy. Longans and lychees bear fruit at around the same time of the year. Dried longan are often used in Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine. In contrast with the fresh fruit, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black.

The longan or dragon's eye is the more temperate relative of the glamorous lychee. Many Chinese prefer the longan to the lychee since it has a distinctive musky flavor and is not overly sweet. The tree is better adapted to California than the lychee, particularly since it is more frost tolerant (22°F). The round fruit is smaller than the lychee. The outer shell is relatively smooth and dark tan in color. The aril surrounds a single (usually) large brown seed. The fruits are available fresh, frozen, canned and dried. Longans have less finicky fruiting habits than lychee.

Availability: Good

Melons are some of natures sweetest treats. Fresh, sun-ripened melons capture the taste the summer. A slice of ice cold watermelon, half a cantaloupe or a piece of honeydew...lightly chilled, ready to scoop and enjoy are part of the fun of summertime!

On hot summer days refreshing chilled melon is welcome addition to any meal and a cool anytime snack.

Regardless of what type of melon you choose, they are very handy to have on hand for entertaining. Halved or quartered melons make great containers for chilled soups, punches, salads, dips, or even flowers. Consider serving a chilled cucumber soup in honeydew or cantaloupe halves, a fruity punch or fruit salad in a watermelon halve, chicken salad in a cantaloupe halve, or a fruit dip in any halved melon. Melon slices or wedges make great garnishes and melon balls add extra interest to ice creams, salads, soups, desserts, and other dishes. Try adding melon to your favorite desserts or salads for fresh summer flavor.

Origin: Washington

Pack: 15 lbs.

Availability: Good

An Asian plant with mysterious cathartic powers, medicinal rhubarb spurred European trade expeditions and obsessive scientific inquiry from the Renaissance until the twentieth century. Rarely, however, had there been a plant that so thoroughly frustrated Europeans' efforts to acquire it and to master its special botanical and chemical properties.

This fruit is used primarily in the making of pies. It pairs well with strawberries for an exquisite combination of sweet and tart. It is also delicious stewed. Good source of calcium and potassium.
Norwegian cold rhubarb soup with mint

Ingredients:

4 sticks of rhubarb
1/2 a stick of vanilla
1 pt of water
6oz sugar
5 sprigs of mint
1 lemon

Procedure:

Take the leaves of the mint sprigs. Peel the rhubarb and cut it into thin slices. Put the rhubarb peel in a saucepan with the water, sugar stick of vanilla, the juice of the lemon and the by now leafless mint sprigs, let it simmer for 10minutes. Sieve the liquid and add the rhubarb slices. Bring it to the boil, take off the heat and leave to cool. Cut the mint leaves into thin strips. Serve the soup ice cold with the chopped mint leaves on top.

Serves 8 people

Origin: California

Pack: 5 lb.

Availability: Limited

As the citrus season winds down, there are still a few fruits being harvested that are unique and delicious; one of them is the unusual alternative lemon - the Variegated Pink.

Rare Variegated Pink lemons, which have green-striped skin when young, are less acidic than regular lemons when they reach maturity. This fruit is actually a mutant found on an ordinary Eureka lemon tree in Burbank, CA, around 1930. Its immature fruit has green and white stripes; the older fruit loses the stripes and develops flesh pigmented pink from lycopene, which also colors pink grapefruit. The trees are usually poor producers, perhaps because their variegated leaves are low in chlorophyll. Harvest is also difficult because these trees have thorns and widely spaced fruit. Once harvested, they taste much like regular lemons; though when mature, the flavor can be less acidic, with a tutti-frutti hint.

Available for a short period in the late spring, these lemons are a unique way to share citrus flavor with your customers.