Comments on: Why Are Oranges Always on Sale in December? Seasonal Food Sales and How to Take Advantage of Them

By: Rozann

Rozann — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:10:33 +0000

Naval Oranges, as well as tangerines are on sale in December because that is when they are at peak and very plentiful. Valencia oranges (used for making juice) are ripe and plentiful in June.

By: kathy walsh

kathy walsh — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:37:04 +0000

How do I order cortland apples to be delivered to southern california?

By: DanT

DanT — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:57:46 +0000

I guess we’re never gonna learn why we should soak our vegetables before we freeze them.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:41:20 +0000

Turnip is so, so good, and very underrated! You can add cooked, peeled turnip in to carrot and squash soups and puree them for a hearty, winter cream soup. You can add chunks to stews and curries. You can serve it raw with a veggie tray and dip. You can cook and mash it before freezing it. Then, as needed, you can add 1/2 a cup or so to mashed sweet or white potatoes, or blend with equal parts carrots and add some butter, salt, pepper, and dashes of nutmeg and cinnamon for your own version of a Scottish “tatties and neeps”. I even have hear of people who make a turnip pie, or a blend of turnip and pumpkin pie.

One important note, some kinds of turnip can take a long time to cook, so take that into account for recipes and pre-blanch, or cut into very small chunks.

By: Marcella

Marcella — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 07:06:42 +0000

One thing you haven’t mentioned is that not only is it cheaper to buy in harvest season, you will probably be buying “local” produce that will taste better and it is better for the environment as well.

When you buy a fruit or vegetable out of season, where you think this has come from? Probably somewhere overseas, flown in. It will be more expensive, because you are paying for all those additional logistical and transportation costs. The food will be less fresh because it was maybe picked a week ago and frozen slightly or something like that to transport to your supermarket.

There are a lot of parallels between being frugal and being green. Buying in season is just one example.

By: melissa

melissa — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:55:30 +0000

What do you do with your turnips? I’m trying to find a recipe I like that I can use with my CSA turnips.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:12:11 +0000

Oranges at Christmas–reminds me of the children’s Christmas book An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:16:48 +0000

Another “why are you soaking” comment?

What ruins foods is ice. (unless you mean blanching, which is not what you are describing.)

By: Courtney

Courtney — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:41:25 +0000

I am also curious about why you would soak fruits and veggies before freezing. Blanching, maybe, depending on the type of vegetable – but why soaking?

We freeze berries, onions (chopped or sliced ahead of time to cut down on meal prep time), and our favorite, sweet corn. Load up on it in August, cut it off the cob into freezer bags, and then enjoy all winter. Yum!

By: E

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:39:36 +0000

omg, your first paragraph could have been written by me. My dad grew up in postwar Poland and oranges were a special treat indeed.
We still get oranges every year at xmas, and we give them too. They’re not as “special” as they were, but still fun and quite tasty. :)

By: partgypsy

partgypsy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:27:41 +0000

I recently read an article that for the holidays (really all year) should buy local, therefore no cranberries for Thanksgiving, no citrus at Christmas. I thought that was going a little too far. I look forward to the months where oranges, clementines and grapefruits are cheap and plentiful.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:06:53 +0000

This also goes hand in hand with the podcasts recently from Planet Money and This American Life. They went to a produce market, and everyone had too many oranges, making the price drop. Interesting.

When I was growing up, I could always count on Santa bringing me an orange and the largest KitKat you could find. It never occured to be that this might have any heavier significance other than my fondness for them both. I’ll have to ask my parents about it, now.

By: Vicky

Vicky — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:31:46 +0000

Heh, the magic of The Strawberry Festival…

You get the BEST strawberries out of Plant City, FL the last week of March.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:08:24 +0000

I grew up in central Florida, and remember those freezing days in January. The orange and strawberry farmers would go nuts. The TV weatherman on the 11:00 news would be live from the orange groves with a big thermometer, waiting for the temp to hit 32. At that point, they would spray water on the fruit to give it a protective cover of ice. But it was always a big deal.

By: DanT

DanT — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:29:15 +0000

Pardon my ignorance, but what’s the point of soaking the veggies in water before freezing them?

I would think that would make them absorb the water, and since water/ice expands as it freezes, would cause the ice crystals to rupture the cells of the veggie. I can see that being the cause of the change in texture.

We just ordered our first chest freezer, so I foresee a lot of freezing in our future, and would like to know the reason behind soaking veggies in water first.

By: John DeFlumeri Jr

John DeFlumeri Jr — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:15:48 +0000

Having a big freezer will pay for itself in a short time, with the right sales.

John DeFlumeri Jr

By: Sandy

Sandy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:09:57 +0000

@ #4 I wouldn’t put a blanket judgement on freezing squeezed OJ. When we lived in Florida 18 years ago, we were delighted that our older Florida home had a very productive juice orange tree. Each Dec and Jan and early Feb, I’d spend several hours each week squeezing my oranges and freezing the juice. The taste was slightly tangier than fresh, but otherwise it was fine. Out of that one tree, I was able to produce 3+ months worth of juice (not including squeezing fresh during harvest) Ahh..that reminds me…our neighborhood there had numerous citrus trees…several of us would bring our oranges, grapefruits,lemons, etc…and have a swap…good times..

By: Ally

Ally — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:50:13 +0000

I love trying to eat things in season – they seem to taste better – especially tomatoes in August versus tomatoes in January. ick! There is no comparison for me. I also love canning, and it is easiest and cheapest to can something when it’s in season – like you said, it’s so much cheaper. I bought a bushel of Cortland apples this fall for $15 and made 25 quarts of cinnamon applesauce, which I now have for Christmas gifts and to have as a fruit with my lunch through the winter. I do the same with fruit for jam – berries (especially if you can find a u-pick place) are cheaper in the summer, and for me there is nothing like homemade jam.

I have recently gotten into books and cookbooks that discuss this, specifically Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle, and Sarah Raven’s In Season. Thank you for sharing this, and I hope you write more about eating with the seasons!

By: Peggy

Peggy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:37:19 +0000

I have two or three favorite cookbooks and I’m compiling a cookbook for my children for when they leave home. I add seasonal information alongside these recipes. My homemade cookbook will include a monthly index of recipes that can be made with food at its peak.

Over the course of the last year I’ve learned that even meats have a season. Eating locally has completely changed the way we shop, prepare meals and eat. In a great way!

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:29:09 +0000

Cherries in July! That’s a fond memory I have of living in Chicago – getting cherries from Michigan every summer for ridiculously cheap. Cherries freeze well, too – but do take the pits out first.

I’m a big fan of eating seasonally, and there are fairly few foods that I try to preserve past their seasons (cherries being one of them). It’s fun to look forward to the first asparagus of spring, the first tomatoes of summer, and the first butternut squash of fall. I’ll eat my fill of each of them, and by the time I can’t stand them anymore, there’s something new and delicious that’s come into season.