The start of the fresh grape harvest in California’s San Joaquin Valley, which usually starts during the latter part of June, will be late again this year — for the second year in a row — as so many other fruit and vegetable crops in California have been, because of unusually cool spring weather.

As one grower quipped when asked about the early San Joaquin Valley grape deal, “There aren’t any early grapes in the San Joaquin Valley this year. They’re all late.”

Naturipe Farms has teamed up with The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television to promote the health, great taste and versatility of the summer’s fresh berries. The segment is scheduled to air June 23 and July 12, coinciding with the peak of the domestic blueberry season, Fourth of July and Back to School retail promotions. The popular cable morning show airs daily from 7-8 a.m. and is watched by over 2 million viewers.

MONTVALE, NJ — The Fresh Market, a supermarket chain headquartered in Greensboro, NC, professes to offer consumers a unique shopping experience, designing its stores to evoke an old-world charm with a warm and inviting atmosphere and superior customer service.

That quest for “unique” was entirely evident at a grand opening of its first Garden State location, held here June 15. Eschewing the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, the chain instead cracked open an 85-pound wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

The harvest of California early garlic, which had been delayed due to unseasonably cool weather by anywhere from a few days to two weeks, was underway as of mid-June, with the late garlic harvest still about a month off.

New-crop Chinese peeled garlic had also started to arrive in the United States by mid-June, with whole fresh Chinese garlic scheduled to begin arriving within a few weeks.

BONITA SPRINGS, FL -- Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who took office in January, has not made many friends in the Florida citrus industry in his short tenure, but he confronted some of those he has crossed at an invitation-only luncheon of grower-shippers June 15 at the Florida Citrus Conference at the Hyatt Coconut Point Resort, here.

Agricultural businesses would have three years to start screening all new hires with mandatory E-verify checks to assure that their workforce is legal, according to a bill introduced June 14 by U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX).

"E-Verify is a successful program to help ensure that jobs are reserved for citizens and legal workers," said Rep. Smith, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and who held a June 15 hearing on his legislation, the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2164).