When is berry season in california

Residents Business Contact. Submit Submit. March Fruit Citrus grapefruit, kumquats, lemons, mandarins Vegetables Asparagus Cabbage Cauliflower Kale Pea shoots Radish Snow peas Winter squash April Fruit Berries strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries Citrus grapefruits, kumquats, meyer lemons, navel oranges, pomelos, tangelos, tangerines Pineapple guava Rhubarb. SF Farmers Markets. Take our survey. California Strawberry Commission launched a marketing campaign, "Snack with Heart," aimed at encouraging consumption and connecting the heart of the farmers with the hearts of consumers.

Using social media and digital media combined with influencer partnerships, the marketing campaign highlights the health benefits of California strawberries, to increase consumption. California strawberries seem to be a good agribusiness investment. They produce a large amount of fruit and require only a modest amount of land to grow. The mild California climate makes it possible to harvest this crop almost all year round. Community West Bank fulfills the financing needs of our farmer and rancher clients with Farmer Mac mortgage loans for land acquisition, loans to refinance existing debt, and financing for capital improvements.

Additionally, strawberries grown in raised beds may ripen faster in cool areas because the raised beds stay warmer. To extend the strawberry season, try planting both day-neutral and short-day strawberries. Check with your local nursery for cultivars bred specifically for your region and plant more than one type. Strawberries produce a bountiful harvest for only three or four years, after which, growth slows.

Plan to replant your strawberry patch every few years to keep it going strong. Julie Christensen is a food writer, caterer, and mom-chef. She's the creator of MarmaladeMom.

Home Guides Garden Gardening. How to choose persimmons? Choose fruit that is deeply colored and heavy for its size. Fuyus, though, should always be firm.

How to store persimmons? Persimmons should be kept at room temperature until they are fully ripe. Then they can be refrigerated for as long as a couple of weeks. Fuyus are crisp enough that they can be sliced into salads. There may be more different varieties of plums than of any other single fruit.

Plum recipes ». How to choose plums, pluots and plumcots? Choose plums that are deeply colored, shiny and firm but not hard. How to store plums, pluots and plumcots?

If your fruit feels a little too hard, leave it at room temperature for a day or two and it will soften. Then, and only then, should you refrigerate it. Extra tips Split a plum along the cleft that runs from stem to flower end and the seed will pop right out. Pomegranates are a lot of work and a fair bit of mess , but the sweet-tart jewels you wind up with are worth it. Pomegranate recipes ». How to choose pomegranates? Do look for deep color though. How to store pomegranates? Extra tips To seed pomegranates without making a mess, score the peel in quarters, then submerge the fruit in a bowl of water and separate the peel and the pith.

These will float while the seeds will sink. Radishes are among the fastest growing of all of the vegetables as any veteran of elementary school science fairs can surely attest. Radishes recipes ». How to choose radishes? Check the tops first; they should be bright green and not at all wilted. The roots should be brightly colored and free from cracks and nicks.

How to store radishes? Extra tips Radish varieties differ in how pungent they are, and the same radish variety can differ depending on growing conditions -- irrigation tends to cool them, sulfurous soils tend to heat them.

Why is it that people go crazy for carrots but ignore other root vegetables? Parsnips recipes » Turnips recipes » Rutabagas recipes ». How to choose root vegetables? Select root vegetables that are firm, with no soft spots or discoloration. Avoid roots that have lots of hairy secondary roots. Extra tips Each root has a slightly different character. Parsnips are sweet; turnips have a slight horseradish edge.

Rutabagas are somewhere in between. These are shelling beans: varieties that are normally grown for drying but which can be sold and cooked fresh. The season lasts for only two or three weeks, so get them while you can.

Shelling beans recipes ». How to choose shelling beans? Look for pods that have begun to shrivel and dry, with full-sized beans inside. These will be the most mature and have the best flavor. How to store shelling beans? And a little bit of ham or bacon will never hurt. Add some chopped soft herbs, such as fresh basil, parsley, cilantro or mint just before serving.

It will perk up almost anything. Basil recipes » Cilantro recipes » Parsley recipes » Mint recipes ». How to choose soft herbs? When choosing soft herbs, freshness is of the utmost importance. How to store soft herbs? Particularly with basil, cilantro and mint, the best way to make them last is to treat them like cut flowers — stick them upright in a glass of water, drape a plastic bag over top, and refrigerate.

Extra tips One of the easiest things to do with soft herbs is make a pureed sauce, like pesto. Puree herbs with minced garlic and salt and with the blender running, add olive oil until you have a sauce-y consistency.

Almost anything with a leaf can be considered a candidate for salad these days. The array of colors, textures and flavors is one of the real pleasures for the springtime cook. Specialty lettuce recipes ». How to choose specialty lettuce? Reject any lettuce that appear soft, and certainly if there are signs of darkening. How to store specialty lettuce? Keep lettuce in a tightly sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper drawer. Extra tips A great salad is made of many textures and flavors.

Build upon a mix of lettuce varieties rather than a single one. We can get strawberries any time of year now, but I still think of them as a springtime treat. Strawberries recipes ». How to choose strawberries? Choosing good ones is pretty simple: your nose will know.

How to store strawberries? You can refrigerate berries, but the flavor is best if you leave them at room temperature and eat them the same day. Just before serving, wash gently in cool running water, pat dry and then hull them, removing the green top removing it before washing will cause the berries to absorb more water.

Extra tips Strawberries are one of the most vexing of fruits because their quality varies on a weekly basis. Even the best varieties from the best farmers can be off if the plant is putting its energy into producing foliage rather than fruit. So you really need to taste before you buy.

Want the flavor of an English pea without the hassle of shucking, and with a more reliably sweet flavor? Then go for the sugar snap pea. Sugar snap peas recipes » Snow peas recipes ». How to choose sugar snap and snow peas? Look for edible pod peas with crisp pods that show no dark blemishes or soft spots.

Traces of white streaking are often found on sugar snaps and are nothing to worry about. Extra tips Edible pod peas need to be cooked as briefly as possible to retain their crunch, color and flavor. And despite the marked differences between the two types, they can be used almost interchangeably. Sweet potato recipes ». How to choose sweet potatoes? Orange sweet potatoes are sweeter and moister than the golden ones, which are drier, starchier and nuttier in flavor.

Extra tips Want an easy side dish? Bake sweet potatoes, then peel and puree in a food processor with butter and a little orange juice.

The secret to that irresistible lemony tang in so many Mexican dishes? Tomatillos recipes ». How to choose tomatillos? Choose tomatillos that are deep green and firm and that have a husk that is definitely dried out and papery.

Once tomatillo fruit has started to turn yellow, it loses some of that flavor. How to store tomatillos? You can keep tomatillos with their husks wrapped in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Extra tips To prepare tomatillos for serving, remove the husk and rinse off any sticky residue.

You can puree them raw for a very sharp flavor, or roast them or grill them until soft for a mellower taste. While the quality of supermarket tomatoes has improved, the farmers market is still the only place you can hope to find fruit with anything approaching true backyard flavor. Tomatoes recipes ». How to choose tomatoes? Tomatoes should be vibrantly colored with taut, shiny skin. There should be no soft or wrinkly spots. How to store tomatoes? Never refrigerate tomatoes — it kills the flavor.

Keep them at room temperature, lightly wrapped if you prefer. Extra tips For cooking, choose firm, elongated tomatoes. Transfer them to ice water to stop the cooking and peel with your fingers.

You can simply squeeze the seeds out with your hands. Cooks tend to regard nuts as staples, like flour or butter. But they do have a season and when you get them right after harvest, they taste fresher and their texture is almost creamy. Walnut recipes » Almond recipes » Pistachio recipes ». How to choose walnuts, almonds, pistachios? With whole nuts, choose examples that are heavy for their size.

How to store walnuts, almonds, pistachios? Whole nuts can be stored at room temperature for several weeks. Shelled nuts must be refrigerated immediately. Extra tips Toast nuts before cooking them. You can do this either on a cookie sheet in a degree oven, or in a dry skillet on top of the stove.

Before refrigeration, these squash with their hard shells were among the few vegetables that could be stored through the cold months. Squash recipes ».

How to choose winter squash? Look for squash with deep, saturated colors and no soft spots or cracks. The stem should be hard and corky too.

How to store winter squash? Keep winter squash in a cool, dark place. Extra tips To prepare winter squash, cut them in half and remove the seeds. Place them cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake at degrees until they can be easily pierced with a knife. Cool, then spoon away the tender flesh. Zucchini recipes ». How to choose zucchini? Look for zucchini that are small to medium-sized no longer than 6 to 8 inches. They should be firm and free of nicks and cuts.

Really fresh zucchini will bristle with tiny hairs. Generally speaking, the more gray and bulbous a zucchini is, the firmer and milder the flesh will be -- good for soups. The darker and thinner zucchinis are more tender but usually have richer flavor. Extra tips Though smaller zucchini are best for cooking by themselves, larger zucchini are still good for stuffing and baking. Russ Parsons is a former Food writer and columnist and the former editor of the Food section at the Los Angeles Times.

All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options. By Russ Parsons. Apricots and apriums Because so much of the apricot harvest has gone to drying and canning, most lacked flavor when sold fresh.

Apricot recipes » Advertisement. Artichokes Most people eat artichokes only one way — the biggest ones, served whole with drawn butter or mayonnaise. Artichoke recipes » When are artichokes in season? Really fresh artichokes will squeak when squeezed. Asian pears Asian pear varieties can differ quite remarkably.

Asian pear recipes » Advertisement. Asparagus The most reliable harbinger of spring in the vegetable world, when asparagus peeks through the dirt, you can bet warmer weather is coming. Asparagus recipes » When is asparagus in season?

March and April How to choose asparagus? Avocados There are many reasons to love living in California, but ranking high among them are the variety of avocados we can try; as wonderful as Hass avocados are, try a Reed or a Gwen.

Avocado recipes » Advertisement. Beets Not only are beets physically beautiful — they have a deep, rich saturated red color that shines like nothing else — but they are also a wonderful combination of sweet and earthy. Beets recipes » When are beets in season? November — March How to choose beets? How to store beets? Bell peppers There is nothing at the farmers market that sums up the late summer-early fall season like the mounds of brightly colored peppers that seem to be everywhere.

Bell pepper recipes » Advertisement. Blood oranges Blood oranges get their color from the same anthocyanin pigment that gives raspberries theirs.

Blood orange recipes » When are blood oranges in season? February — March How to choose blood oranges? Broccoli recipes » Advertisement. Carrots Once carrots came in one model — fat and orange. Carrots recipes » When are carrots in season? February — June How to choose carrots? Cauliflower For cooks, cauliflower has two distinctive personalities.

Cauliflower recipes » When is cauliflower in season? December — May How to choose cauliflower? Chard recipes » When is chard in season?