- Crop Update for Spring
- Holiday Recipe Ideas: Mother’s Day, Father’s Day
- In the News: Figs and Cholesterol; Fruits & Veggies—More Matters;
Food Editors Love Figs
At this time of year, most fig growers are completing the last of the winter deep watering. Pruning is near completion and new weeds are mowed and cleared. It is now the time that replacement trees are planted in place of trees lost since last year's harvest. Young trees, from last year's replacement projects, are also shaped through pruning in anticipation of future crops. Until the caprification/pollenation of the Calimyrna figs in late May, this is the time that growers enjoy spending time in their orchards watching the bright green new leaves form and the first figs of spring appear.
Mother's Day, Sunday May 13
Mother’s Day is celebrated the second Sunday of May each year. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day a national holiday to be celebrated the second Sunday of May. Ana Jarvis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was instrumental in campaigning for the holiday. She began by persuading her mother’s church to celebrate Mother’s Day on the second anniversary of her mother’s death, the second Sunday of May. By 1911 Mother’s Day was celebrated in almost every state.
Celebrate this Mother’s Day with breakfast in bed. Have the kids help make breakfast and clean up. A handmade card is an especially nice touch. Did you know that Mother’s Day is one of the most popular days to eat out? About 38 percent of Americans eat out, which makes this holiday second only to eating out on birthdays. 
Mother’s Day Breakfast in Bed Menu
Father's Day, June 17
Mrs. John B. Dodd of Washington first proposed Father’s Day in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, who after his wife’s death, raised his six children as a single parent. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children alone. In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Finally in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.
Celebrate Father’s Day with a family picnic
Father’s Day Picnic Ideas
- Fresh Fruit and Veggies, a colorful variety
Loma Linda University Study
Preliminary findings on the fig cholesterol study conducted by Loma Linda University indicated that nearly 65 percent of the participants had a 10% reduction in total cholesterol levels as well as LDL cholesterol levels. Nearly 73 percent of the participants had a 20% or more decrease in their triglyceride levels. Additionally, 56 percent of the participants had an increase in the HDL (good) cholesterol levels. Results from a second group of participants in the fig cholesterol study, however, did not bear the same results. An additional study will be conducted by Loma Linda University in the near future to determine the relationship between dried fig consumption and cholesterol levels.
Produce Campaign Aims To Produce Better Health
Called "Fruits & Veggies -- More Matters," the juggler campaign is a partnership between the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is designed to replace the "5-a-Day" program that was launched in 1991 by the National Cancer Institute and then updated with the "Five-to-Nine" program, which urges consumers to eat five to nine servings daily of fruit and vegetables. For a product to carry the icon, it must contain at least one serving of fruit or vegetables per portion: equivalent of one piece of fruit, such as a medium orange, a half-cup of raw or cooked vegetables or fruit, a half-cup of cooked dry beans, or one cup of leafy greens. Products that have a quarter-cup of dried fruit, or half a cup of 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice can also qualify.
 Food Editors Love Figs
Over 400 newspaper food editors from 43 states requested Valley Fig Growers’ color food page, Make Spring Festive, featuring recipes for Easter and Passover. With a total circulation of about six million, figs made a big spring splash. Featured recipes included Pistachio Fig Macaroons, Braised Chicken with Fennel and Dried Figs and Fig Honey Nests. While featured for Easter and Passover, these recipes are delicious any time of year.
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