If a farmer strolled out into his fields hoping for the best at harvest-time, he’d be pretty hard put to bring in an abundant crop. When it comes to harvesting, farmers are like physicists, engineers, mathematicians... They carefully plan from planting correctly through to harvest, monitoring the crops to ensure that the fruit is picked at exactly the right time to bring us crops with the best flavor, texture and nutritional value. The complex botany of a plant ensures the perfect taste at the perfect point in its life. If it is picked before then, it will not have reached its peak of flavor or texture. If picked later, it may have begun turning to mush. An unripe raspberry, for instance, is hard and tasteless but when ripe – oh my! The same is true with all fruit and vegetables, however the peak time of ripeness differs from plant to plant. Some do allow for a little leeway in harvesting time, like tomatoes or potatoes which stay ripe for a period of days, while others, like strawberries, go downhill the moment they pass their prime. Many fruits and vegetables start to lose their nutrient value when they are ripe and begin to pass their peak. Vitamin C, for instance, decreases the moment some crops are harvested.
Consumers want ripe fruit at the time they want it. They will simply bypass what doesn’t look good to eat. Looks are important but organic farmers do nothing to change the look of their crops other than to grow the healthiest, tastiest fruit possible, harvested at the right time. This, in itself, ensures that the produce looks good. Conventional methods of agriculture incorporate such practices as coating produce with petroleum, beeswax or shellac-based wax or resin with the intent of making the fruit look colorful and shiny. But, in the end, it is the wax you taste, not the fruit. Who wants to eat wax? Organically grown produce does not need to be scrubbed clean of synthetic chemicals before eating although it's always a good idea to rinse off the dirt.
Timing the harvest is crucial for good health and good economics. Picking fruits or vegetables before or after their peak time can mean the difference between vegetables for the table or vegetables for the compost pile.
Proponents of organic farming and natural foods extol the virtues of eating locally, and it’s a great idea! Even if you don’t know much about gardening you can tell when produce is in season because it will be at your local farm stands. We aim to bring you that same produce at the peak of freshness wherever you live because we integrate a process called flash-freezing at the point of origin. This ensures the preservation of all the local goodness and nutrition for you, the consumer. What is better than a blueberry pie in New England in July or August, which is when the blueberries are at their peak? Well, the same blueberry pie in January in Missouri or Detroit... There’s no difference.
All Woodstock Farms products, like our frozen fruits and vegetables, are made from produce picked at the peak of freshness, which ensures their optimum nutritional value.
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