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Wild Flower Vineyards, Bakersfield, Calif., will start harvesting the California crop on July 13.

Mostly favorable growing conditions for leaf and lettuce items have helped produce some good-quality crops from California this summer, grower-shippers say.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Dole Food Co., which grows about 80% of its leaf and lettuce items in California at this time of year, has implemented strict COVID-19 safety protocols.

California summer fruit grower-shippers traditionally credit weather with having a say in what kind of season they’ll have.

Fresh fruit sales were up about 9% for the four-week period, while fresh vegetable sales were up 25%.

New grape varieties are quickly supplanting older, established cousins across Mexico, growers say.

Grower-shippers of Mexican grapes say they expect to have ample supplies in the pipeline for their season, despite some rough weather during the growing season.

California cherry growers expect to harvest slightly more fruit this season than last year, assuming they don’t see a repeat of the heavy rainfall that devastated much of their fruit last May.

Mexican grape harvest has begun.

California’s 2020 avocado harvest is expected to reach nearly 400 million pounds — almost an 85% increase over last year, according to the Irvine-based California Avocado Commission.