As we enter February, the majority of the vegetable markets are at, or close to the floor. Yes, even celery is coming down after weeks of $30-40.00 prices. Sales across the country are slow, which seems the way the economy is going. The standard comment is “well, people have to eat”. That’s true, but shoppers are watching their pennies in the produce section, as well. Folks are really shopping for the best deals, even if it means buying frozen peas, spinach, carrots, and staying away from those nonessential items and sticking to more of the basics.

Long range weather in the desert growing regions show a chance of a few showers Tuesday and Wednesday, with highs in the 70s all week, and lows only in the mid to high 40s. We can almost say we are free of freezing problems. ALMOST. Another 2 weeks and we will be home free. This is the first year in perhaps 5 that we can recall being relatively free of frost peel and blister damage on lettuce and leaf.

Trucks are plentiful, but rates are holding steady. They may have bottomed out for the year.

LETTUCE–there are plenty of deals around. Some shippers had even rolled some loads of lettuce over the weekend to various terminal markets. Sales are slow, and demand is only fair. This is certainly a good item to advertise.

BROCCOLI–slow demand and markets are low. Plenty of supplies in Santa Maria, Oxnard and the desert, so take your pick. We are expecting some rain in Santa Maria all this week, which will slow them down, but there still should be plenty of supplies and we don’t expect much of a market change.

CAULIFLOWER–there are a few deals yet available early this week, but supplies are expected to lighten up later in the week. That means we could/should see the shippers look to push their prices as supplies lighten up. Most of the supplies are coming out of the desert, but Santa Maria is pumping out some, as well. With the rain coming in, that will also effect things in the desert.

LEAF ITEMS–plenty of red, green, boston, and romaine, with demand and prices sluggish.

CELERY–this market is FINALLY starting to come down. We expect prices to be half of what they were last week, and may drop even further. But, if you recall when the market dropped last month, it jumped right back up about a week or so later. We aren’t sure what will happen here, because the desert is now a factor with supplies.

ASPARAGUS–every week supplies pick up. We are seeing more and more 28/1# boxes being packed, which is a further sign of increased supplies. Asparagus is certainly an item we try to push this time of year, and into Easter. We’ll see how our sluggish economy effects asparagus sales this year. This is certainly a “nonessential” item, so it remains to be seen how well ads do across the country.

STRAWBERRIES–Florida is the major source right now, with some supplies coming out of Central Mexico, and crossing  in Yuma, Arizona or McAllen, Texas. This weekend will be the first shot of stem berries going out for Valentine’s Day, and we expect LIGHT supplies. On top of that, rain is forecasted in Oxnard all this week, so they won’t be any factor at all.