During this first week of May, Rudy’s Happy Patch Market is full of activity. Warm days have brought out customers as well as early blooming and ripening plants and produce.

One side effect of the fruitfulness: a need to closely monitor market fruits and vegetables. “Fruit rotation” is a concept that market manager Charles Tanner knows well. Staff and peers regularly check individual market items for spots or softness.

“The early, warmer temperatures have caused us to increase our monitoring of fruits and, especially, tomatoes,” Tanner notes. “We have an abundance of fruits that the warm weather has caused increased ripening.”

A welcome method for moving riper fruits and vegetables quickly off shelves is through special discounts to Perry Wellness Center peers. As for the quality of the produce, the efficient market manager explains, “It is still good, but I want to offer it at a discount for our peer population. We try to take care of each other.”

In the photo above, Sherry Robinson checks ripe tomatoes to ensure they remain shelf-worthy.