{"id":228897,"date":"2026-03-20T18:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/228897\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T18:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T18:34:08","slug":"california-food-depot-gears-up-for-spring-as-sunny-weather-signals-seasonal-shift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/228897\/","title":{"rendered":"California Food Depot gears up for spring as sunny weather signals seasonal shift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orange blossoms are filling the air in Edison as growers at California Fruit Depot prepare for spring harvests and the heat that follows in Kern County.<\/p>\n

\"SpringSpring has sprung and the navel oranges and blooming at the California Fruit Depot PHOTO: KBFX<\/p>\n

The depot, which grows, packs and ships its own citrus, is harvesting navel oranges now and will pack valencias throughout the summer, but their focus right now is navel oranges. The operation is also producing lemons and a few other special varietals.<\/p>\n

Ben Taft who is the manager at California Fruit Depot, pointed to Tango mandarins outside in the groves, , which shoppers may recognize in stores under the Halo or Cutie labels. He said the tree we were standing by is about 10 years old, and the fruit \u201cwill be picked in a couple of weeks and shipped all around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

KBFX<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

With spring underway, Taft said the biggest challenge ahead is preparing for Bakersfield\u2019s summer temperatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the heat\u2019s coming, and we live in Bakersfield. It\u2019s no surprise,\u201d Taft said. \u201cThe truth is, it\u2019s going to be hot on July 4. It\u2019s going to be hot on August 1. It\u2019s going to be hot. It\u2019s going to be hot here, and we just prepare for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The farm focuses on keeping trees healthy through the heat by providing water to reduce stress and adding fertilizer and other nutrients.<\/p>\n

\"NavelNavel oranges getting prepared to be covered with bees waxed and packaged PHOTO: KBFX<\/p>\n

\u201cThere trees are amazingly like people, if it is hot outside, they\u2019re going to stress,\u201d Taft said. \u201cIf they don\u2019t get enough water, they\u2019re going to stress it\u2019s Bakersfield, it\u2019s the summertime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the packing and shipping operation, Taft says the oranges are sent to destinations around the country and into Canada this time of year. Behind the scenes, trucks are loaded for different uses, including juice.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a farmer, the last thing you want to see is a juice truck being loaded, because that\u2019s not what we grow for,\u201d Taft said.<\/p>\n

KBFX<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Taft also described how appearance affects which oranges are considered top-quality for the fresh market, pointing to differences in size, color and blemishes. He said a good orange is largely about \u201cesthetics\u201d and how it looks, adding that some customers don\u2019t mind minor blemishes.<\/p>\n

Beyond citrus, the California Fruit Depot store sells other locally produced items, including almonds and pistachios, and carries seasonal produce when available. Taft adds the business also grows dates in the Coachella Valley and tries to stock \u201cbasically anything that you can find grown in this area, if it\u2019s in season.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said cherries are \u201cright around the corner,\u201d and locally grown strawberries are expected soon. The store also offers samples, including unusual items such as cucumber chips.<\/p>\n

KBFX<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The California Fruit Depot is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week and is closed on major holidays. . Ben encourages visitors to stop in while the orange blossoms are at their peak, noting the scent typically lasts \u201cfor another week or so.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orange blossoms are filling the air in Edison as growers at California Fruit Depot prepare for spring harvests…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-228897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}