 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
In this Edition
Hello and welcome to the first edition of Fresh Perspectives for the New Year. Already we have January down and the Easter eggs are appearing in the shops!
In this edition, we have our fruit and vegetable wrap-up, plus we take a look at the 2009 Chinchilla Melon Festival - which is a fantastic event and well worth visiting.
I have also included a joke for you all..if you are like me and have just received the Christmas credit card bill, I'm sure you could do with a laugh!!
|
|
 |
|
|
This Month in Fruit
What's new in fruit for January?
Well, Chris Georgiou from Pershouse Produce fruit sales tells me that the new season apples are starting to arrive on the Market.
"We have just started receiving some great summer Delicious apples." said Chris.
"This season we are expecting a reasonable apple crop out of Stanthorpe. It isn't as big as last years, but there should still be plenty available."
Mangoes are still in good supply, but the quality is varied. Kensington Pride and R2E2's are still available and prices are firm.
Stonefruit is still in steady demand, but the quantity has been down a little on last year as a result of bats stealing fruit from Stanthorpe orchards.
There are some exotics still available. Lychees are still dear and there has been little movement as a result of the price.
Quality tomatoes are coming out of Victoria at present. Egg tomatoes are a reasonable price and taste fantastic.
|
|
|
|
|
Vegetable News
There are plenty of sweet potatoes, lettuce, eggfruit and beans available on the Market.
At the time of writing, capsicums are still short, as are zucchinis. Brocolli is easing and cauliflowers are shortening up.
Most produce is coming in from Victoria and Stanthorpe.
In Heavy produce, we are into the local season with Jarradale pumpkins short due to heat and humidity.
Kent Special pumpkins have come down in price and have plateaued, but will firm up closer to February.
Atherton potatoes have finished and we are now into the Dorrigo season and varieties out of Thorpedale (Vic).
|
|
|
|
|
Chinchilla Melon Festival
One of the biggest events on the produce calendar is almost upon us!
The Chinchilla Melon Festival is on again and as one of the biggest watermelon marketers in Australia, Pershouse Produce is again a proud sponsor of the Festival.
The event has been has been a huge success for many years and has been instrumental in placing Chinchilla on the map.
Here is some information straight off the press about the 2009 Melon Festival. It is absolutely worth checking out!
If you've never seen anyone split open 40 watermelons in 60 seconds using nothing but, well... their own melon, you should probably come to the Chinchilla Melon Festival for one heck of a good laugh.
Known as the ‘Melon Capital’ of Australia, Chinchilla produces a quarter of Australia’s melons and celebrates the fact biennially in February.
Join with the locals for some hilarious fun and festivities as events, such as melon skiing, melon iron man, melon bungee, melon bullseye, pip spitting and melon tossing, get into full throw.
There’s back-to-back entertainment for the whole family with markets, a street parade, arts and crafts, a poets breakfast, luncheons, free concerts, and loads more over the week.
So pull on some old clothes and take to the streets that are awash with melon mayhem. But be warned. You might end up in a very sticky situation.
Take a look at the final program which is guaranteed to please. Some of the excitement to look forward to include:
• The ever-popular Melon Skiing;
• Melon Dash for Cash;
• Melon Bungee;
• Melon Bullseye;
• Melon Ball Games;
• Chariot Race;
• Melon Ironman;
• Pip Spitting Competition;
• Ready Melon Cook;
• Melon Idol;
• Art & Craft Competition;
• Bob the Builder performing for the kids; and
• Beccy Cole performing at the FREE Family Concert.
The big news from the last festival was that John Allwood broke 40 melons with his head in one minute for the Guinness World Record (previous was 36). Will he be able to do it this year?
www.melonfest.com.au |
|
|
|
|
www.freshforkids.com.au takes out top award
The www.freshforkids.com.au website has, for the second time, won the prestigious award for Best Food-Based web-site in a national competition organized by the Food Media Club of Australia, and judged by the who’s who in the Food Media.
The www.freshforkids.com.au is an integral part of Brisbane Markets Queensland Kids Fresh Net program that actively strives to increase fruit and vegetable consumption amongst school aged children.
The fresh for kids website is designed to appeal to children aged 5 – 12 years and has an average of 1.8 million hits per month.
www.freshforkids.com.au |
|
|
|
|
Joke of the Month
This one was passed to me from Nola Davies. It's a goodie...
A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that, in Spanish and
several other languages, unlike English, nouns are designated as either
masculine or feminine.
'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'
'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'
So, a student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'
Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two
groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether
'computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun.
Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.
The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the
feminine gender ('la computadora'), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is
incomprehensible to everyone else.
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for
possible later retrieval.
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending
half your paycheck on accessories for it.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine
('el computador'), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but still can't think for themselves.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they
ARE the problem.
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a
little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
The women won.
|
|
|
 |
Here is a list of just some of the produce available right now* at Pershouse Produce |
|
Apples
Broad beans
Brocolli
Brocollini
Brussel Sprouts
Butter Beans
Capsicums
Carambola |
Cauliflower
Cherries
Eschallots
Grapes
Honeydew Melon
Mangoes
Lychees
Kipfler Potatoes
|
Kiwifruit
Nectarines
Okra Beans
Peaches
Potatoes
Plums
Pumpkins
Rambutan
|
Rockmelons
Spring Onions
Sth Gold Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Taro
Tomatoes
Watermelons |
|
*subject to supply conditions.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
