The 2013 produce season is underway and should be highlighted by good quantities of high-quality produce.

Nice weather has had a significant impact on the growing conditions for spring Jersey Fresh produce. Our seasonably cool spring got everything off to a slow early start. Spring was a little moister than usual, as well.

This weather caused many growers to delay getting seed or transplanting into the soil and discouraged more plowing and planting. We saw more gradual growing conditions and bee pollination this spring.

Most spring crops were planted later than the last two years and the seasonally average growing conditions our farmers have enjoyed has allowed most produce varieties to grow and project at their historically normal harvest dates, though unusual future weather could always have an impact on the eventual harvest time. Cool spring nighttime temperatures created excellent-quality lettuces, greens and strawberries.

New Jersey grows a diverse variety of fruits and vegetables due to its moderate climate and inherent “Jersey Fresh” qualities. New Jersey’s 11 principal fresh market vegetables are tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, eggplant, escarole, snap beans, and asparagus. Our five principal fresh market fruits are strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples, and cranberries.

The early season harvests of spinach, collards, beets, radishes, escarole/endive, Swiss chard, lettuces and herbs such as parsley, dill, coriander, and cilantro have gone very well. Asparagus harvesting began in mid-April in excellent quality. Cabbage, pickles and turnip harvests began at the end of May. Cucumbers and squash started at the beginning of June. Consumers always look for sweet corn and tomatoes by July 4th and, with our normal start to the season this year, both may not be in very much volume by that time this year.

Chandler variety strawberries are being grown in increasing quantities by our growers to meet the strong demand for locally grown berries. They are grown in raised beds and under black plastic and are picked when ripe and have more red interior color, a large berry size, and an excellent taste. Early harvests began in mid-May, with the bulk of the crop harvested towards the end of the month, with light volume expected to continue into early June.

Minor quantities of early blueberry varieties like Weymouth should be starting in mid-June. The much more widely planted Duke variety should start three to four days later, with volume available a week after that. In 2012, New Jersey produced about 7,500 acres of berries yielding about 51.5 million pounds; fifth in the nation.

Yellow peach volume will start with the early “cling” varieties in mid-July, with fair volume by month’s end. The widely planted John Boy “clingless” varieties should start by the end of July. Good yellow volume is expected by early August through mid-September. White peach volume begins with the White Lady variety in mid-August through mid-September. Our peach producers grew 5,300 acres of peaches in New Jersey in 2012. Over 40 peach shippers operated packinghouses that packed and marketed about 60 million pounds of quality peaches; fourth in the nation.

New Jersey growers also are looking to satisfy the growing ethnic population of the state and their demand for Asian and other ethnic specialty produce, particularly melons, squashes, peppers and eggplants.

There are numerous field trials of these new ethnic varieties being grown by farmers and agricultural agents throughout the state. This area of production is thought to have a great growth potential.

This season also will see another excellent and spirited Jersey Fresh marketing effort. For the third summer in a row, the NJDA has secured a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant for Jersey Fresh promotion on radio, television and in print this season. Another USDA grant will again allow the program to hire two summer interns who will assist staff in visiting retailers to distribute excellent point-of-sale materials.

The Department continues to disseminate a weekly “Jersey Fresh Forecast & Availability” e-mail and will continue to maintain regular contact with buyers. The New Jersey Department of Agriculture will again do its best to help the New Jersey produce industry enjoy a banner year.

Bill Walker is an employee of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.