IN SEASON : Things Are Fine in Guacamole

Remember the good old days, back when you could afford to make guacamole?

They may be back. Avocado prices, which had gone through the roof the last four years, have finally returned to normal. Expect to see grocery stores advertising them at prices as low as three for $1, or even less. At one local market, they are five for $1.

Some estimates have this year’s California crop pegged as high as a record 580 million pounds--more than enough to offset the losses to the Florida crop suffered during Hurricane Andrew (even in a good year, Florida accounts for only 10% of the national total). The crop probably won’t go quite that high though, particularly with the recent wave of chilly weather.

The previous best harvest was in 1987, when more than 550 million pounds were harvested. But a series of freezes, heat waves, rain and assorted drought problems resulted in a four-year run of harvests below 360 million pounds. In fact, the combined harvest of 1990 and 1991 was less than 480 million pounds.

But this year, thanks to good weather, the Haas harvest started two weeks early, meaning there should be sale prices starting soon. Early wholesale quotes were less than half of last year’s at the same time, and indications are that prices will be dropping further.

Trying to unload all those avocados means growers and stores are having to work a little harder. One thing you’re likely to see this year is an increase in ripe avocados. In the past, growers shipped avocados as soon as they were picked. The stores put them out when they arrived. And you bought them rock-hard and left them on the window sill for a couple of days to ripen.

This year, there has been a concerted effort on the parts of growers and stores to either add or expand ripening facilities, so you’ll be able to shop for avocados on the day you plan to use them. They’ll be branded with a little sticker, but of course you know that a ripe avocado is one that gives a little at the stem end. If you buy them unripe, simply stick them in a brown paper bag for three days. That’ll fix ‘em.