On April 5, Erickson told FreshFruitPortal.com that hot south Texas weather – which already had been in the 90s and even reached 100 – has been good for melon vines. Little Bear will be shipping watermelons, honeydew, and specialty melons. The deal isn’t expected to last much past mid-June.

“The melon crops look good. The vines are good and it’s a nice set. It is looking very good.”

Jimmy Bassetti, co-founder of Little Bear Produce, Edinburg, TX, with Bret Erickson, senior vice president of business affairs.

Onions

Since early March Little Bear has been shipping its sweet Texas 1015 and Honeysweet onions. The season has been good, with good markets, yields and quality, says Erickson. These Texas onions will ship well into April. Little Bear will begin shipping Georgia’s Vidalia onions April 17. All of these onion crops look good.

Greens and Veg coming to season’s end

While early spring heat has been good for Little Bear’s melon plantings, it’s taken somewhat of a toll on the firm’s greens and vegetable crops. This harvest begins in November and will be running down this year in mid- to late April. “We may have a month to go,” but hot temperatures “may knock us out” a little earlier than in some other years.

Much of the United States experienced a frigid Christmas holiday in 2022. Erickson says it was also very cold in south Texas, but a blanket of very timely cloud cover managed to maintain enough warmth to avoid severe crop losses. “It was below freezing but not like it was on Valentine's Day 2021.”

“We’ve been blessed this year. This has been a good step back to get the ship righted after the last couple years of severe weather. It’s been a very positive season for us. Markets have been strong.”

It was cloudy when Erickson spoke with FreshFruitPortal on April 5. He said three or four days of rain were forecast to bring two- to four-inches of rainfall. 

The weather will have a great deal to do with the production of greens – notably herbs - and vegetables.

Little Bear’s vegetable list includes chard, kale, collard greens, bok choi, Shanghai cabbage, beets, parsley root, fennel and Betasweet maroon carrots.

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