Northwest-Grown Red Cherries Have Landed!
Plump, juicy, packed with flavor and completely crave-able, the Northwest cherry season is here, and with it arrives strong volume, great varieties, and a multitude of size profiles and pricing to meet all needs.
OGC Stone Fruit Experts Share Category Knowledge in Educational Video
OGC Buyer Brian Keogh and OGC Ambassador Tom Lively share updates on the California stone fruit season, as well as tips and tricks for selecting and storing peaches, nectarines, pluots and more. Don’t miss out on hearing from these stone fruit experts!
NW Basil Brings Fresh Flavor
Warmer weather means fresh eating, and nothing adds flavor and color to seasonal meals like organic basil. Grown in the Willamette Valley by our friends at Groundwork Organics and Riverland Family Farms, this high-quality emerald-green basil is sure to delight!
Stone Fruit Season is Here and Offers Endless Variety - Thanks to Zaiger Genetics
Stone fruit from California has landed and with it the promise of sensuous sunny days filled with delectable peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, plums, and pluots. The enthusiasm for this category at OGC is palpable, not only for the depth of flavors and colors it offers but that it provides produce-nerds something to really sink their teeth into.
Learn more about what to expect this season and why the name “Zaiger Genetics” makes the eyes of our stone fruit buyer, Brian Keogh, light up!
Oshala Farm’s Nettles
Oshala Farm grows three acres of organic nettles, which are traditionally a wildcrafted plant. “Many people have access to nettles, but others don’t, and the soil health and where they grow are significant,” says grower Elise Higley. “Native plants often grow in ecologically sensitive waterways where they keep their little feet wet, but not all waterways are clean, so cultivation is a great option.”
Delight Shoppers with Artichokes of All Sizes
Eaters and retailers excited for organic artichokes can plan spring-inspired meals and merchandising around this tasty crop! Large globe artichokes and petite baby artichokes are now available in fantastic volume and high quality for great eating.
NW Spring Onions: Extraordinary Fresh Flavor!
With the Northwest-grown storage onion season beginning to wrap up, and before the California onion crop comes in, now is the perfect opportunity to feature delicious organic spring onion bunches from Siri & Son Farms.
100 Years In Oregon: Montecucco Farms’ Top Notch Rhubarb and Root Veg
Spring means rhubarb and Montecucco Farms’ annual harvest is one that OGC eagerly anticipates!
Wholesum Family Farms: Tasty Tomatoes & Fair Trade Investments Make Them a Grower To Know!
Longer days mean lighter, more colorful meals as shoppers ditch the dutch oven and reach for the salad bowl! Helping keep eaters’ appetite for tasty warm-weather crops satiated during the Northwest’s cool, wet months are our friends Wholesum Family Farms. With locations in Arizona and northern and central Mexico, OGC is grateful for our long partnership with Wholesum. Beyond delicious crops, Wholesum is also a leader in Fair Trade, contributing to their communities in both the U.S. and Mexico.
Sunny Days Bring Increased Purple Sprouting Broccoli Harvest!
Though it may have been slow to start, the recent string of sunny spring days is coaxing the organic Purple Sprouting Broccoli crop from its winter slumber.
NW Purple Sprouting Broccoli: Available Now, Volume Soon!
Late-season frost slowed the arrival of early PSB varieties resulting in less volume than we traditionally see this time of year. With plenty of sun in the forecast, we anticipate strong availability in the coming weeks, and we couldn’t be more excited! OGC’s Lucas Crawford shares his favorite way to prepare PSB!
Foods in Season: Satisfying the Growing Wildcrafted Market
The demand for wildcrafted foods, such as Morel mushrooms and Fiddlehead ferns, has grown year over year as eaters become more familiar with both the health benefits and complex flavor of these foraged goods. For the past 30 years, one of OGC’s partners for all-things-wild, Foods in Season, has helped provide our region with tasty morsels from the forest while providing essential work for generations of local families.
Little Gem Lettuce for Supreme Spring Salads!
Crisp, crinkly organic Little Gem lettuce from our friends at Tomatero Organic Farm makes for a perfect base for spring-inspired salads and lends a satisfying crunch to sandwiches. Learn more about this colorful lettuce variety that OGC coworkers can’t get enough of!
Early Spring Crops: Fresh Flavor For Eaters and Essential Income for Growers
Spring has arrived and with it a burst of color, flavor and essential income for growers. The seasonal bridge between slim winter months, and the harvest bounty of summer, spring offers some of the most exciting eating of the year!
Tender, fresh and often here-and-gone before you know it, spring varieties are fantastic for awakening shoppers' curiosity in the kitchen as they explore lighter meals featuring flavors coaxed out of hibernation by longer, sunnier days.
Late-Season Small Round Orange Things
The 2021 Citrus season has moved into its final months and with it, a bevy of late-season small round orange things are making their way up from ranches in California to tantalize shoppers! Learn to tell the difference between some of the tastiest varieties available now in this lineup!
Salanova For Spring Salads!
Tender tasty spring greens are beginning to sprout up on availability lists, and one variety OGC coworkers are particularly excited to eat this season is organic Salanova.
Watch OGC’s Monique Kirby demo a delightful spring salad showcasing Oak Leaf Salanova!
Belgian Endive: A Labor of Love
A chicory family member, organic Belgian Endive, has a white and sunny-yellow torpedo-shaped, tightly wrapped head with a satisfying crunch and slightly bitter flavor. Originating in France and the Netherlands, Belgian Endive is gaining popularity in the US alongside radicchios and escarole. Delicious braised or eaten raw in salads, and its leaves are also perfect vehicles for scooping up dips as a healthy alternative to chips. But, wait until you see how Belgian Endive is grown!
Final Tasting Video of 2021 Citrus Tour Delivers Big On Flavor
OGC’s Alyssa Farris and Nathan Johnson wrap up the 2021 Citrus Tour with a sampling of ten late-season varieties sure to please the palates of citrus-lovers! Follow along as they sample tiny Meiwa kumquats, well-loved Honeygold grapefruit, tasty mandarins and tangerines, a surprisingly sweet lemon, and more!
Raabs from Groundwork Organics Signal Spring
Residents of the Pacific Northwest eager for signs that longer, warmer days are on their way can look to the arrival of Raabs from Groundwork Organics to mark the transition away from winter! With classic favorites and a new variety that OGC coworkers are buzzing about, now’s the perfect time to learn more about these delicious seasonal greens from this well-loved Willamette Valley grower!
Viva the Seedless Lemon Revolution
Imagine a lemon. Yellow, oval shaped, tart juicy flesh and firm sunny skin perfect for zesting.
Now image how you’d use that lemon. A simple twist into a refreshing glass of ice water. Juiced for a zesty kick in a cocktail. Packed with salt and preserved in jars for brightening up dishes. Key to a sweet and lip-puckering lemon tart.
What could possibly make this lemon better?
Read on.