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Mar. 12-13, '10 Organic Produce Gals Weekly News
Get Your Greens for St. Patrick's Day! |
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Greetings Becky! 
This week we continue with our celebration of "National Heart Month(r)" (which is a trademarked nutrition education and information campaign created annually in March by the American Dietetic Association) by focusing on green stuff! That's because St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner so this is the time to prepare!
Go green... as in chlorophyll, the phytochemical that makes plants green by absorbing energy from the sun to facilitate photosynthesis. Remember all that stuff from biology? It goes like this:
Oh I can feel the energy now... ever notice how good you feel after eating a fresh bunch of veggies vs. crusty processed junk food? Oh yeah, I enjoy a cookie or two here and there, that feels good (in a comfort way) but the body gets way more efficient energy out of wholesome, natural food.
It's not just energy, or calories, but NUTRITION and HEALTH BENEFITS. Don't we often look favorably upon a job that includes benefits? Well the same goes for food. We can consume empty calories or we can have calories with BENEFITS! In fact, chlorophyll has been shown to help with the growth and repair of tissues. It helps to neutralize the pollution that we breathe in, the free radicals that do damage to healthy cells, and even neutralizes bad breath. It's been found useful in assimilating and chelating calcium and heavy metals and scientific research suggests chlorophyll may help the body fight cancer. It also helps blood carry oxygen to all cells and tissues of the body. Just keep in mind that cooking destroys much of these benefits... so try to include some raw veggies in your diet. I figure it makes for a quicker meal anyway, LET'S GO GREEN at the Organic Produce Gals Foothills Farmstand...
Where we celebrate good nutrition, healthy hearts, and creative ideas every month, every week, I love it!
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it, they will be yours for food." Gen. 1:29-30 NIV |
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PRODUCE IN THE NEWS...
Well I have good news and bad news... the good news is we have more of those lovely aromatic, delicious fresh herbs coming back to the plate, more bunched beets (gotta love those leafy green tops, I wish we could order them alone!), green onions, Italian flat parsley, red bell peppers, purple potatoes, sunburst squash, and whole wheat lavash wraps... all coming back to see us this week. To adorn your OPG salads, we'll have four kinds of dressing and for your snacking pleasure we're expecting roasted, salted cashews and dark chocolate covered almonds, ummmm.
Now, keeping the good stuff in mind, we'll turn to the bad news. As I eluded to last week, this is a tough time of year in produce world, as we transition from one season to another and between growing regions. It won't last long... our summer fruits always come around in due time. Ahhh, we've had a chance to whet our appetites with those blueberries and strawberries though, and there's more coming in this week, amen!
Two major issues resulted in a serious supply/demand situation that limited availability on certain crops this week. There was a big problem with aphids affecting a large amount of broccoli and some other green leafy plants. Humidity often triggers this kind of thing, we had a lot of rain combined with some higher temperatures for a time. Aphids like that. The aphids got a jump start on St. Paddy's Day, eh? The other one is the big freeze on the east coast even where they grow tomatoes in Florida. Well guess where they went for tomatoes? West. Only so much to go around.
Expect to see volatile pricing on tomatoes and green stuff like broccoli until more crops are abundant. |
ON SPECIAL THIS WEEK: 
Artichokes $1.50 each Cabbage, Green price to be determined, will be a good deal!
Baby Carrots still only $1.50 1lb bag
Cauliflower $2.75 each
Romaine Lettuce $1.95 each
Red or Yukon Gold Potatoes only $1.95 2lb bag!
Roma Tomatoes $3.50 1lb
Yams, Jersey sweet potatoes only $1.75 2lb bag!
California Avocados only $.95 each...Wow!
Bosc Pears $.55 each (only $1.25/lb)
and Roasted, Salted Peanuts are down to $2.50 1lb bag
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PREORDERING
Pre-ordering is available for a nominal service fee of just $2.00. Here's how to do it:
In the QUICK LINKS column to the left, find CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER or click on the
.xls version of the list link in the block above.
1. The .xls version of the list will appear after a minute or so
2. Select desired items in the quantity column.
3. Add your name and phone number to the bottom of the list.
4. Save and name this form as a document.
*Note: This is a new OPG email address. We have extra help with processing these orders now, so we have diverted them to a different mailbox! I, Becky, can still be reached at the hotmail address, but for order-related questions, go to the ymail box!
6. ATTACH YOUR ORDER & SEND. I'll reply with an "I got it!" email.
You may aldo reply to this email with a list of your selections in your own format and we can transfer it to our order sheet.
Any way you do it, we'll have your order packed and ready for convenient pickup any time after 10am Friday morning. Please send your order by 7am Friday and pick up no later than NOON on Saturday. Just call if you will be late or we'll restock the produce so it can find a good home! |
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NATURAL PRODUCTS EXPO/WEST
This weekend in Anaheim!
It's that time of year again and I'm off to the Expo, yay! Imagine over 50,000 vegieheads all gathered in the same place for four days...lots of positive energy! Let me know if you're looking for anything in particular. I'm going to check out some classes, meet some folks who provide HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAMS, and graze on a plethora of organic foods as I comb the aisles for treasures and information. To see what it is like, you can go to our website home page and click on the expo documentary I did last year. What fun! But what expense and no sponsors, ugh! This year I'm planning to do my first photojournalism project. I'll provide you a tour with pictures and short articles... this way I can cover more ground in less time for less expense.
Kat and Lynn are coming, too, and this year we have another Produce Gal joining us...
Rhonda Merrill is coming along. If you have not met her yet, Rhonda is our new Gal, indeed, my new official partner in Produce Gals. She is in the process of buying the farmstand portion of the Produce Gals business to take over management and administrative duties, hence, I have more time to finish the OPG Cookbook, Nutrition For Your Soul, and get back to Kitchen Nutrition Productions. Rest assured, I'm still here on the email news, all day Fridays, and I'm still your Produce Gal and your advocate... we just have more help. In fact, her whole family helps out, they're a team instead of just me!
You can meet them all this week, they'll be holding down the fort along with Jeannine and Missy while we travel. Welcome aboard! | |
HOURS/LOCATION
OUR FARMSTAND IS OPEN on FRIDAYS and SATURDAYS, 9AM-5PM
RAIN OR SHINE! Come find us at the TOP of Cherry tree Blvd--
Just head up the hill on McCulloch Blvd. , turn UP Cherry tree Blvd. and you'll find us at the end of the road... at the entrance of the lovely HAVASU FOOTHILLS ESTATES.
If you miss us during regular hours or will be away for the weekend, don't hesitate to check in by sending us an email or call to see what's left. We always have a little something left over to put in our MIRACLE MONDAY BOXES!
Thanks for being our "Produce Pals", we appreciate you!
Many blessings,
Becky Bassham
aka Organic Produce Gal
Franny Pavich and Becky at Expo West '09
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