Off season?

Icemaiden 8/15/2011, 1:51 pm

Here in Iceland we have various food shops but the range of fruit and vegetables is fairly standard. I think that a limited number of companies import fresh produce and then sell it to all the shops.

There is one supermarket though which advertises that it flies produce in directly from New York once a week. The best day to go is Wednesday - the day after the plane lands - but I was there on Saturday and although the American section was fairly empty I did get some very sweet and juicy oranges. Is it still orange season over there?

I had a bit of a smile mind you. In amongst the "flown in fresh from USA" section was fruit with little stickers saying "South Africa" so I don't suppose that was particularly fresh!

I've had some great American cherries over the summer and even a peach which was juicy - a very rare thing here. The prices would probably make you faint though affraid

littlesapphire 8/15/2011, 2:03 pm

Wow, I can't imagine what it's like living somewhere that you have to have your produce shipped it.... OH WAIT, it's just like that here in the winter, LOL! Cherries are pretty expensive here to begin with ($3-$5 a pound), so I can't begin to imagine how much they must be for you.

As far as I know, oranges are a winter fruit in the USA and they only grow in the south and certain places along the west cost. So right now they're out of season. The best time to get them from the USA is between December and April, probably.

You'll have to forgive me for being mostly ignorant on oranges, though. They have to ship them here to NY because they would never grow in this area.

Icemaiden 8/15/2011, 2:10 pm

littlesapphire wrote:Wow, I can't imagine what it's like living somewhere that you have to have your produce shipped it.... OH WAIT, it's just like that here in the winter, LOL! Cherries are pretty expensive here to begin with ($3-$5 a pound), so I can't begin to imagine how much they must be for you.

I just worked it out... $10.37 per pound this time. Guess that is not so bad actually, I think they were more earlier in the summer, especially this red-and-yellow ones which I like best.

BackyardBirdGardner 8/15/2011, 3:36 pm

I'm surprised most of it doesn't say "Made in China but passed through USA for middle-man mark-up." (But, that's another story for another time.)

ModernDayBetty 8/15/2011, 3:49 pm

$3-5 lbs for cherries! Crazy.... Everyone has cherry trees here so i suppose it's different, for about a month it's $1/lb by corner street vendors.

Icemaiden, do you have any fresh fruit that grows there? Or is it just specialty items that have to be flown in?

HouseofWool 8/15/2011, 3:55 pm

The red and yellow are most likely rainier cherries. They are fabulously sweet. The dark red ones are bing cherries.

Goosegirl 8/15/2011, 9:43 pm

littlesapphire wrote:
As far as I know, oranges are a winter fruit in the USA and they only grow in the south and certain places along the west cost. So right now they're out of season. The best time to get them from the USA is between December and April, probably.

You'll have to forgive me for being mostly ignorant on oranges, though. They have to ship them here to NY because they would never grow in this area.

When I lived in Northern California it was very sad to see that many people had orange trees, and other citrus fruit trees, planted as ornamentals in their front yards - but the fruit was completely wasted, as people would let it just fall off the trees and then rot on the ground. Same for pineapple guava shrubs and strawberry guava shrubs. They would be planted as ornamental hedges and trimmed into shape while blooming and/or fruiting! SUCH A WASTE!!! I quickly learned where to be when it was hedge trimming time! I am such a scavenger!

GG

Icemaiden 8/16/2011, 5:33 am

krazikandiland wrote:Icemaiden, do you have any fresh fruit that grows there? Or is it just specialty items that have to be flown in?

We have vegetable at least. Some last all year and some are just early winter. Potatoes, carrots, swede, chinese leaves, broccoli and cauliflower are all grown outdoors. Tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet peppers year round under glass. Fruit is hopeless apart from rhubarb and red currants, oh and strawberries under glass. I did see in the paper today that someone has hundreds of apples off her apple tree and there is a lot of interest in fruit at the moment.

shannon1 8/16/2011, 6:46 am

Goosegirl wrote:

When I lived in Northern California it was very sad to see that many people had orange trees, and other citrus fruit trees, planted as ornamentals in their front yards - but the fruit was completely wasted, as people would let it just fall off the trees and then rot on the ground. Same for pineapple guava shrubs and strawberry guava shrubs. They would be planted as ornamental hedges and trimmed into shape while blooming and/or fruiting! SUCH A WASTE!!! I quickly learned where to be when it was hedge trimming time! I am such a scavenger!

GG

Things that make you go humm. Here I am in sunny florida and where I work gets it's oranges shipped in from CA all year. what is the sense in that.

@ Icemaiden I grew up in Alaska and raspberries, cranberries, and blue berries grew wild. Can you grow them there?

Icemaiden 8/16/2011, 7:58 am

Blueberries grow wild (this is the low bilberry sort of blueberry), and crowberries and stonebrambles.

I would love raspberries. I think if you get the right sort then they will grow outdoors but i d't have the space for them Sad

littlesapphire 8/16/2011, 8:14 am

Goosegirl wrote:When I lived in Northern California it was very sad to see that many people had orange trees, and other citrus fruit trees, planted as ornamentals in their front yards - but the fruit was completely wasted, as people would let it just fall off the trees and then rot on the ground. Same for pineapple guava shrubs and strawberry guava shrubs. They would be planted as ornamental hedges and trimmed into shape while blooming and/or fruiting! SUCH A WASTE!!! I quickly learned where to be when it was hedge trimming time! I am such a scavenger!

GG

I know exactly what you mean, GG! There are dozens of apple and pear trees in my neighborhood, along with some peach and cherry trees. But from what I can tell, people are only growing them for how pretty they are, or they just came up wild and they never do anything with them. I'm thinking about asking around this fall if those people would let me pick some of their fruit in exchange for some jelly or jam I make from it Very Happy

Goosegirl 8/16/2011, 8:26 am

littlesapphire wrote:
Goosegirl wrote:When I lived in Northern California it was very sad to see that many people had orange trees, and other citrus fruit trees, planted as ornamentals in their front yards - but the fruit was completely wasted, as people would let it just fall off the trees and then rot on the ground. Same for pineapple guava shrubs and strawberry guava shrubs. They would be planted as ornamental hedges and trimmed into shape while blooming and/or fruiting! SUCH A WASTE!!! I quickly learned where to be when it was hedge trimming time! I am such a scavenger!

GG

I know exactly what you mean, GG! There are dozens of apple and pear trees in my neighborhood, along with some peach and cherry trees. But from what I can tell, people are only growing them for how pretty they are, or they just came up wild and they never do anything with them. I'm thinking about asking around this fall if those people would let me pick some of their fruit in exchange for some jelly or jam I make from it

Good plan! In one of the neighboring towns there is a park that has lots of apple trees. All you have to do is ask the city for permission and if they say yes, you can load up on the apples when they are ripe. Not many people take advantage of it, but a friend of mine does! There are also plum trees that have been planted as wind breaks along ditches that can be had for the asking as well. It is definitely the scavenging time of year!

GG

**walshevak** 8/16/2011, 11:09 am

BackyardBirdGardner wrote:I'm surprised most of it doesn't say "Made in China but passed through USA for middle-man mark-up." (But, that's another story for another time.)

+1

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