Just how much damage did the freezing temperatures in early February cause? Well, a report from the growers we use at this time of year was pretty, um, chilling:That's some serious losses! Especially at a time when prices were already climbing. I talked to a neighbor whose occupation is in grocery/produce and he expressed that produce is at the highest prices he's ever seen with demand far surpassing supply.
Tomatoes: The open-field beefsteaks, vine-ripes and romas were a complete loss. (About 60% of the beefsteaks and vine-ripes are grown in open fields, and about 85% of the romas.) Grape tomatoes and cherry tomatoes were also a total loss. Only vine-on tomatoes seem to have fared well and remain in strong supply.
Beans: Nearly 95% of the crops were lost.
Vegetables: Among the hardest-hit were green bell peppers (70-80% lost), cucumbers (80-90% lost in shade houses, 100% in open fields), eggplant (a major loss, and it is too late to replant for this season) and squash (85-90% lost). Alone among the vegetables, colored bell peppers seem to have done pretty well, although there will still probably be a little spottiness in their availability.
Depending on the availability from their contracted suppliers will determine what that store's/chain's offers and at what price (except for what they swallow to buffer). Sometimes there are other buffers - such as those rooms or crates of chilled gassed fruit that stores for months since they were harvested.
So what's a person to do? Well survival instinct says stick with the most nutrient dense, but I mean besides that :)
Buy local. This will also have the least amount of petroleum/gas prices worked in. Lucky/Blessed for us, we live in a great climate for food production. Besides having four growing seasons (all year!) it is dry enough to prevent a great many of the problems that other climates have to spray chemicals for (which doesn't always save the crop anyway).
and of course.... Grow your own! Again our climate blessed us with so many options. And generations of people before us have succeeded in producing here. As well as that, but the recent revival of interest in self sufficiency and locally & home grown foods and nutrition has made for an increase in Farmer's markets, and just plain shareable knowledge gained from experience.
How many of us have been 'meaning to get to that', but haven't worked out the kinks yet. I really hope that the year I finally try growing our favorite foods isn't the year that the learning curve makes my tummy growl. The price of seeds is low, but the law of the harvest demands effort to turn that tiny pack of seeds into a satisfying amount of food.
Here's a new link to the Low Desert Gardening Calendar, it is the same as previously referred to.
Since listing EVERYTHING that grows here would be silly and would take ALL night, I'll limit myself to notes regarding the Frozen vegetables:
Tomatoes can be grown here with ease up until the peak of summer, if you shade them, they will survive and continue for another year or more. (obviously they freeze, so protect from frost and freezing.) I learned a great tip recently: Tomatoes stop producing when summer go above 90ish degrees because the pollen dries out before it can set fruit. If you get out in the morning and spray a mixture of 1 tsp baking soda and 1 Quart of water (and some organic fertilizer) into the blossoms, then they will all set fruit.
Count your "days until harvest" accurately : Tomatoes take from 50 days - 80 days from the plant's first blossoms to begin producing with Beefsteak tomatoes typically being over 70 days (the larger they are then the longer they typically take).
Tomato plants take ~10-12 weeks from germination to reach that first blossoming which is about the size and age of the 6 pack to single pack size that is sold in nurseries. Cherry tomatoes These have been easier to grow in my experience because of their more wild nature - they seem more resilient to abuse, obviously however, they still freeze. Only vine-on tomatoes seem to have fared well and remain in strong supply.- These fared different because they are likely referring to greenhouse grown, which are climate controlled.
Vegetables: green and colored bell peppers, Pepper plants can grow year round here (protect from the extremes) and produce nearly the whole year.
cucumbers (80-90% lost in shade houses, 100% in open fields), Cucumbers are a spring crop, with armenian cucumbers working as a summer crop
eggplant (a major loss, and it is too late to replant for this season) this is a summer crop and you can still plant it here. (with some crops this is because we don't freeze in the fall - super long growing season if they don't mind the sun.)
and squash (85-90% lost). all squashes are great here and even though they probably also mean zucchini and summer squash, I suppose this also means a shortage in canned pumpkin again this fall.
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