Panic on Blueberry Hill

What looked at one time like a possibly record-setting blueberry harvest has gone up in smoke. Or, more accurately, frost.

Both Michigan and New Jersey, which together grow more than 60% of the country’s blueberries, were hit by late freezes that reduced crops by as much as 40%. Michigan’s “Blueberry Corridor” runs along the shore of Lake Michigan and is known for temperamental weather. One day in March, temperatures in the field dropped from 84 degrees to 4 degrees. As if that weren’t enough, there were five days of below-freezing temperatures after Memorial Day. A month ago, there was a bad wind and rain storm. And lately there’s been a drought.

There’s still some good news, and that is the increasing number of states that are growing berries. Traditionally a cool-weather crop, new strains of blueberries allow commercial farming in Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and Arkansas.

Most of the blueberries in Southern California come from the Pacific Northwest, and that region’s drought this spring has spurred the crop to its earliest start in history. The harvest peak, usually just about now, was put off a bit by recent rains, but that should be a short-term problem. Still, because of the national shortage, prices will not come down as far as they once might have.

* Strawberry prices should be heading back down as the second-season harvest begins in the Salinas area, but there’s a catch: Second-season strawberries are of the Selva variety, and the flavor just isn’t up to the standards of the early season Chandlers, which are all but done.

* The West Side (San Joaquin, not Santa Monica) melon harvest is underway and both quality and size are good. The West Side, the area due west of Fresno, near Coalinga and Huron north to Los Banos, is the state’s largest grower of variety melons--those oddities that are neither cantaloupe nor honeydew, though usually something in between.

Befuddled by the variety? Here’s a sampler from Steve Couture, a melon man from Kettleman City:

--Casaba: Gold and green skin with soft, white flesh. Not as sweet as honeydew, but with a very smooth, creamy, delicate flavor.

--Persian: Gray-green skin with lighter netting than a cantaloupe, the flesh is a light-orange color. The flavor is close to cantaloupe but not as sweet or pungent.

--Santa Claus: Green outside with crisp white flesh, not nearly as sweet, this is similar to Oriental winter melons and can be used in salads.

--Canary: Bright-yellow skin with soft, white flesh that is sometimes slightly pink, this melon’s flavor is similar to a honeydew, though sweeter and sharper.

--Orange Flesh: Skin like a honeydew, flesh like a cantaloupe, though not as pungent.

--Sharlynn: Similar to a Persian outside with white meat, the flavor is similar to a Canary.

--Cranshaw: The most difficult melon to grow and the most flavorful. Skin is wrinkled dark-green, turning to gold at its most mature. Flesh is salmon-colored, very soft and very sweet.

VEGETABLES

* Just as grilling season kicks into high gear, here’s more good news. The eggplant harvest around Fresno is nearing its peak, and prices are even lower than normal at this time of year. Early in the season, there weren’t many around (primarily because of the pesky laigus fly), prices were relatively high and not many people were buying. When the harvest picked up steam, prices didn’t come down quickly enough, and now grocers are up to their check stands in eggplants. In addition to the conventional round American variety, you can find elongated Japanese (deep black and 6 to 8 inches in length), Chinese (more purplish and 10 to 14 inches long) and Filipino (bronzed with a green stem and 9 to 10 inches long). Whatever the variety, pick eggplants that are firm and heavy for their size with tight, glossy skins.

FARMERS MARKETS

At the North Long Beach Growers Market, in Dooley’s parking lot at Del Amo and Long Beach boulevards, Kundert Bros. farms from Edison is selling peewee-sized Yukon Gold potatoes as well as the normal run of reds, russets and white rose. Cut the walnut-sized peewees in half, roll them in olive oil and roast them in a 400-degree oven with whole cloves of garlic and some fresh rosemary. Kirksey’s Farms from Exeter has a complete selection of peak-season plums: Black Amber (tart dark skin, moist red flesh); Black Beauty (dark skin, dark juicy flesh), Wickson (green to yellow tart skin and flesh) and Santa Rosa (purple skin and flesh with delicious “plummy” flavor). Garcia Family Farms from Kingsford is selling lemon cucumbers, Angelo and Elegant Lady peaches, Flame Top nectarines and Black Beauty and Black Amber plums. Mary Takahashi from Carson has fresh shallots with their tops, as well as a wide variety of greens and spring vegetables. Rivas Farms from Visalia has beautiful yellow and green zucchini, crookneck squash, pickling cucumbers and tomatoes. Kau Farms and Joe Baniaga from Fresno specialize in Thai and Filipino produce, selling Chinese eggplant, gourd, bitter melon, sinqoa, long beans and the shoots of okra, beans, chayote, squash and bitter melon. And Williams Shellfish Farms from Morro Bay trucks in farm-raised Pacific oysters, grown in certified waters.