Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 07, 2002

I bought some very good tomatoes from Mexico. The tomatoes had this label: Capital City Fruit 1949

 https://www.capitalcityfruit.com/

At the grocery store 2 days ago I bought some very large Granny Smith apples. One of those apples is gigantic, twice the size of these apples.

Bees and HoneyCrisp Apples are good things.

HONEYCRISP APPLES

• Dappled red and yellow colors
• Slightly tart flavor & sweet honey taste
• Juicy with exceptionally crisp texture
• Best uses: Fresh eating, salads
• Harvested: September
• Availability: (Chilean) April,
  (Domestic) Year-round

  

OCTOBER 27, 2020

CATCH THE BUZZ – POLLINATOR IMPORTANCE PARTNERSHIP

Partnership Brings Awareness to Pollinator Importance.

Elgin, Minn. – Many Americans don’t understand that pollinators are responsible for one in three bites of food we eat and their populations are under significant pressure. One partnership aims to change that through education. Honeybear Brands®, a leading grower, packer, and shipper of top apple varieties, is partnering with the National Honey Board and retailers like Cub to educate consumers at the store level about the need to protect pollinators, specifically honey bees.

The unique alignment between Honeybear Brands and Cub comes to life in-store with displays that raise awareness about the importance of honey bee pollination and help consumers connect the dots between honey bees and apples.

In fact, the work that a healthy hive of honey bees does to produce one pound of honey also results in the pollination of 1,000 apples!

The partnership goes one step further — a portion of Fall in-store proceeds are being used to develop new pollinator habitats. The pollinator habitats will be planted alongside apple orchards on behalf of the retailer with subsequent social programming being shared with consumers of this collaborative partnership.

“Cub jumped at the chance to partner with Honeybear to help solve a serious issue in our agriculture community. Honeybear is a great company and we love working with our partners especially when it comes to creative solutions that support our environment and sustainability,” says Mike Stigers, Chief Executive Officer, Cub.

“We are pleased to partner with Midwest retailer Cub, the number one grocery chain in Minnesota. The grocer has already pledged to sponsor the development of local acres of pollinator habitat and to showcase the displays during the month of September. Along with the National Honey Board, we will collectively increase awareness of honey bees – which are so critical to the development of our apples. In the busyness of life, we can sometimes forget how fragile the food system can be, so these displays are a great way to remind shoppers about the importance of honey bees and maybe even inspire them to plant their own pollinator gardens,” says Kristi Harris, Brand Manager, Honeybear Brands.

Pollinator populations are under pressure, prompting the need to help honey bee populations thrive for the future of the farming and food industry. This increase in pollinator habitats will have a positive impact on native pollinator abundance and is crucial to the food supply chain.

About Honeybear Brands

Honeybear is a leading grower and developer of premium apple varieties. Family owned and operated for more than forty years, Honeybear still employs the same hands-on, personal attention to each and every apple variety produced while holding to responsible sustainability practices. As a leading vertically integrated, dual hemisphere grower, packer, shipper, Honeybear offers supply of premium apples and pears on a year-round basis. Honeybear Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wescott Agri Products. For more information about Honeybear, visit www.honeybearbrands.com and follow us on Facebook.

About National Honey Board

The National Honey Board (NHB) is an industry-funded agriculture promotion group that works to educate consumers about the benefits and uses for honey and honey products through research, marketing and promotional programs. The Board’s work, funded by an assessment on domestic and imported honey, is designed to increase the awareness and usage of honey by consumers, the foodservice industry and food manufacturers. The ten-member-Board, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, represents producers (beekeepers), packers, importers and a marketing cooperative. For more information, visit www.honey.com.

Honeycrisp apples

Honeycrisp apples from Michigan are a wonderful thing.

Sweet as honey with a crisp bite, Honeycrisp apples have become wildly popular in a short time. Honeycrisp apples were developed at the University of Minnesota in the 1960s, but were not introduced to the market until the 1990s. Its sweet flavor and crisp flesh make it an ideal apple for eating fresh, whether it’s cut in slices or thrown into a delicious salad. The Michigan Honeycrisp is expected to begin harvest on September 17.

Is a Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable?

Encyclopedia Britannica

The age-old question actually has an answer—it's both! Tomatoes are fruits that are considered vegetables by nutritionists. Botanically, a fruit is a ripened flower ovary and contains seeds. Tomatoes, plums, zucchinis, and melons are all edible fruits, but things like maple “helicopters” and floating dandelion puffs are fruits too. For some reason, people got hung up on tomatoes, but the “fruit or vegetable” question could also work for any vegetable with seeds.

Now, nutritionally, the term “fruit” is used to describe sweet and fleshy botanical fruits, and “vegetable” is used to indicate a wide variety of plant parts that are not so high in fructose. In many cultures, vegetables tend to be served as part of the main dish or side, whereas sweet fruits are typically snacks or desserts. Thus, roots, tubers, stems, flower buds, leaves, and certain botanical fruits, including green beans, pumpkins, and of course tomatoes, are all considered vegetables by nutritionists. There is no hard-and-fast rule that clearly designates a botanical fruit as a vegetable, but, given that tomatoes are generally not used in desserts and are closely related to other fruit-vegetables (e.g., eggplants and peppers), it is not too counterintuitive for tomatoes to be classified as vegetables.

Mexico - It's where my tomatoes come from these days.

ABOUT US

OUR COMPANY

We are a family owned farm committed to delivering high quality, non-gmo, greenhouse grown produce. We are devoted to our people, our customers and our community.

Our produce is sold under two brands Bellflower and Nature’s Jamboree.

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Nobody cares but these are their websites:

http://www.bellflowerproduce.com/certifications

http://www.bellflowerproduce.com/

Honeycrisp apples and Granny Smith apples.

My northwestern Illinois farm town grocery store recently stopped selling Granny Smith apples which are excellent, but they started selling very large Michigan Honeycrisp apples which are even more excellent.

Honeycrisp and Granny Smith Available

The 2 best apples in the United States: Granny Smith and Honeycrisp

HONEYCRISP AND GRANNY SMITH AVAILABLE

While much of the apple industry is starting to feel the tightening of a short crop year, Chelan Fresh is looking forward with anticipation. With their strong forecasting program and key Category Management, Chelan Fresh plans to have mainstay varieties like Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples available throughout the summer months.

According to Sales Director Tim Evans, “When you are one of the top producers of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples from Washington State, you plan from the start to supply a steady stream of these varieties for top customers and new accounts. We are thrilled to see our pack outs remain strong for these key varieties and our quality coming out of storage is second to none. Eating quality is equally fantastic!”

In addition, the Rockit® apples continue to create excitement across the industry. The 3lb Shuttle Pack, dubbed the “Millennial Mom’s Cookie Jar”, is quickly becoming the favorite snack pack among moms and grandparents. The Rockit® 2lb pouch bag is also available as an option for those wanting slightly less fruit.

As Chelan Fresh continues to be a leader in Category Management, they are set up to help customers make the most of their apple and pear sales. They continue to welcome the opportunity to meet new customers while maintaining solid relationships with their existing retail partners. Evans says “Our Chelan Fresh team is set up to help your retail buying team succeed! Call us today and start to build your program of quality fruit and customer service with Chelan Fresh.”

Not that anyone cares but I'm having a perfect day today despite the odds.

This morning, according to the Weather Channel website, I expected to get soaked on the way to the grocery store. It's a 2-mile round trip up and down rolling hills while carrying my airplane carry-on bag behind me. I don't believe in cars.

I did not get soaked. There was a little bit of rain but it was not a problem. Despite the terrible accident I had recently I was able to make the trip without any pain.

The last time I was at the grocery store they were out of my favorite apples, Granny Smith. But today they had a hundred bags of the stuff.

The tomatoes I bought were huge and beautiful.

The chicken thighs were also huge.

I also got a very fresh loaf of wheat bread and a bag of radishes.

Everything this farm town grocery store sells is very cheap. It's almost free. The store is called "Save-a-Lot".

The last time I was at the grocery store, for the 1st time ever, they had zero Granny Smith apples. It was probably because of the coronavirus thing. So I bought some other apples and I had to throw them out because they were disgusting.

Granny Smith

Wikipedia - Granny Smith

The Granny Smith is a tip-bearing apple cultivar, which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid of Malus sylvestris, the European wild apple, with the domesticated apple Malus pumila as the pollenizer.

The fruit is hard, with a light green skin and crisp, juicy flesh. The flavor is tart and acidic. It remains firm when baked, making it a very popular cooking apple used in pies, where it can be sweetened. The apple goes from being completely green to turning yellow when overripe.

It is claimed to be the third most popular apple in America by the US Apple Association.

The Granny Smith was one of four apples honored by the United States Postal Service in a 2013 set of four 33¢ stamps commemorating historic strains, joined by Northern Spy, Baldwin, and Golden Delicious.

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The Golden Delicious apples are what I had to throw in the garbage. I would not feed that crap to a dog.

Heaven

6 large chicken thighs cooked on a non-stick frying pan at medium temperature for 55 minutes. Flip the thighs after 28 minutes.

Then the skin is removed. Paper towels are used to dry the thighs.

2 slices of wheat bread. Each slice has one half of a very large tomato.

6 radishes.

2 apples.

Repeat every 24 hours. Eat nothing else. No food for 24 hours. Eat the exact same thing every day.

Everything you always wanted to know about Honeycrisp apples.

When I lived in south Florida, Honeycrisp apples were very expensive. Now I live in northern Illinois which is close to Michigan which is the best place to grow Honeycrisp apples, so I'm able to buy the world's best apples almost for free.

"Natural rain and cool nights give Michigan apples great flavor."

"Honeycrisp. Developed in Minnesota and introduced fairly recently, Honeycrisps are fantastic eating apples. As the name indicates, they are crisp and juicy, with a honey-sweet and tart flavor."

Wikipedia - Honeycrisp

Honeycrisp (Malus pumila 'Honeycrisp') is an apple cultivar (cultivated variety) developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the  University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 with the MN 1711 test designation, patented in 1988, and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercial commodity, as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw.^[1] "...The apple wasn't bred to grow, store or ship well. It was bred for taste: crisp, with balanced sweetness and acidity."^[2] It has much larger cells than most apples, which rupture when bitten to fill the mouth with juice.^[3] The Honeycrisp also retains its pigment well and boasts a relatively long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions.^[4]

Genetics[edit]

U.S. Plant Patent 7197 and Report 225-1992 (AD-MR-5877-B) from the Horticultural Research Center indicated that the Honeycrisp was a hybrid of the apple cultivars 'Macoun' and 'Honeygold'.^[1] However, genetic fingerprinting conducted by a group of researchers in 2004, which included those who were attributed on the US plant patent, determined that neither of these cultivars is a parent of the 'Honeycrisp', but that the 'Keepsake' (another apple developed by the same University of Minnesota crossbreeding program) is one of the parents.^[6] The other parent was identified in 2017 as the unreleased University of Minnesota cultivar designated MN1627. The grandparents of Honeycrisp on the MN1627 side are the Duchess of Oldenburg and the Golden Delicious.^[7]

The US patent for the 'Honeycrisp' cultivar expired in 2008, though patent protection in some countries continues until as late as 2031.^[5] Patent royalties had generated more than $10 million by 2011, split three ways by the University of Minnesota between its inventors, the college and department in which the research was conducted, and a fund for other research.^[3][5] The University of Minnesota crossed Honeycrisp with another of their apple varieties, 'Minnewasheta' (brand name Zestar!), to create a hybrid called 'Minneiska' (brand name SweeTango),^[8] released as a managed variety to control how and where it can be grown and sold.^[3]

Agriculture[edit]

Honeycrisp apple flowers are self-sterile, so another apple variety must be nearby as a pollenizer in order to get fruit. Most other apple varieties will pollenize Honeycrisp, as will varieties of crabapple.^[9] Honeycrisp will not come true when grown from seed. Trees grown from the seeds of Honeycrisp apples will be hybrids of Honeycrisp and the pollenizer.^[1]

Young trees typically have a lower density of large, well-colored fruit, while mature trees have higher fruit density of fruit with diminished size and color quality.^[10] Fruit density can be adjusted through removal of blossom clusters or young fruit to counteract the effect.^[10] Flesh firmness is also generally better with lower crop densities.^[10]  Bitter pit disproportionately affects honeycrisps, typically 23% of the harvest is affected.^[11]

International growth[edit]

As a result of the Honeycrisp apple's growing popularity, the government of Nova Scotia, Canada spent over C$1.5 million funding a 5-year Honeycrisp Orchard Renewal Program from 2005 to 2010 to subsidize apple producers to replace older trees (mainly McIntosh) with newer higher-return varieties of apples, the Honeycrisp, Gala, and Ambrosia.^[12][13]

Apple growers in New Zealand's South Island have begun growing Honeycrisp to supply consumers during the US off-season.^[14] The first batch of New Zealand-grown Honeycrisp cultivars being introduced to the North American market have been branded using the "HoneyCrunch" registered trademark.^[15][16]According to the US Apple Association website it is one of the fifteen most popular apple cultivars in the United States.^[17]

In culture[edit]

In 2006, Andersen Elementary School in Bayport petitioned for the Minnesota state legislature to make the Honeycrisp apple the state fruit; the bill was passed in May 2006.^[18]

In the early 90s, a Minnesota orchardist, Chuck Nystrom, discovered an open cross-pollination between Honeycrisp and an unknown variety, resulting in a new variety called SugarBee.^[19]

This is one of the many reasons why I love the 21st century.

Wikipedia - Honeycrisp apples

Honeycrisp (Malus pumila 'Honeycrisp') is an apple cultivar (cultivated variety) developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Designated in 1974 with the MN 1711 test designation, patented in 1988, and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercial commodity, as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw.[1] It has much larger cells than most apples, which rupture when bitten to fill the mouth with juice.[2] The Honeycrisp also retains its pigment well and boasts a relatively long shelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions.[3] The name Honeycrisp was trademarked by the University of Minnesota, but university officials were unsure of its protection status in 2007.[4]