Coming up on America's Heartland...

It's one of the country's most popular snacks- grapes!

We visit a grape farm near Bakersfield, California, that's growing some unique grape varieties, including Cotton Candy and Gum Drop grapes.

[Jim Beagle] The secret to what we do at Grapery is we let the grapes get really ripe before we pick them.

That's easy to say.

It's really hard to do.

We'll look at another snacking fruit that's been around for generations, but is experiencing a new wave of popularity thanks to its health benefits.

Discover why prunes are a healthy choice, no matter your age.

[George Sousa, Jr.] You know, a lot of people would associate prunes with "That's what my grandparents eat," or it's an "old person fruit," um, yet almost every mom, at some point, will feed her infant some form of prunes.

Join Farm to Fork host Sharon Profis as she prepares Salsa Verde Braised Chicken with pickled red onions.

She'll show you how to use tomatillos, a popular fruit from Mexico often found in salsas.

[Sharon Profis] There are a lot of ways to use a salsa, but today, what we're using it today for is actually braising the chicken.

And meet a Texas farmer who is working with college researchers on an experiment: to see if sheep can provide effective weed control in cotton fields just by grazing!

[Reagan Noland] And so, the logic here is that sheep will graze the weeds in the cotton before they eat the cotton.

It's all coming up on America's Heartland!

America's Heartland is made possible by... ♪♪ ♪ You can see it in the eyes of every woman and man ♪ ♪ in America's heartland, living close to the land.

♪ ♪ There's a love for the country and a pride in the brand ♪ ♪ in America's heartland, living close, ♪ ♪ close to the land.

♪♪ ♪♪ [Jack Pandol] We're harvesting Cotton Candy Grapes today.

This particular field we're in is the largest cotton candy vineyard in the world.

You heard that right.

Cotton Candy grapes.

This hardworking crew isn't harvesting a fluffy, sugar spun treat.

They're picking all-natural table grapes grown under the sun in the southern part of California's San Joaquin Valley.

Thanks to science, these grapes taste a little bit like the popular carnival food.

Hence the name: Cotton Candy Grapes.

The only grower in the U.S. growing this variety is Grapery.

The company was founded by Jack Pandol in 1996.

Its headquarters, just north of the city of Bakersfield.

[Jack] We are primarily a producer of table grapes.

So, we... we have farms, we... we grow the fruit, we harvest the fruit and we, uh, ship the fruit all over the United States and in... in... internationally.

In order to set themselves apart from other table grapes on the market and remain profitable, Grapery has evolved from a traditional producer of table grapes to one that takes risks by developing grapes with unique flavors and shapes.

Jim Beagle is the CEO and co-owner, who has been with the company for 15 years.

[Jim] When I joined Grapery, it was Jack and I and, uh, someone in the office and a foreman in the field, and it was a really small company and we've been building it ever since then.

And for our industry, we've grown really rapidly in the last dozen years.

♪♪ So, how did they do it?

Both Jack and Jim understand agriculture.

Jim's a fifth generation California farmer His family's been in ag since the Gold Rush.

Jack's grandparents started farming in the San Joaquin Valley, after arriving from the islands off Croatia at the turn of the century.

They each have ag degrees from UC Davis.

Jim has an MBA from Harvard.

[Jim] California Agriculture really has become, throughout my lifetime, a much more modern and sophisticated business.

Grapery works with International Fruit Genetics to create new varieties of grapes.

[Jack] One of the really cool things about grapes, genetically, is the diversity of the gene pool worldwide, you know, from the climates that they can grow in, the uniqueness of their flavors, or their uniqueness of shapes, of colors and so on.

Developing a new great variety is no easy task.

Sometimes it's a success.

A lot of times, it's not.

It may require years of testing and getting growing conditions just right.

Most important, people have to like the taste or the fruit won't sell.

Even though Cotton Candys have been around now for almost 20 years, uh, from... from when it was first crossed, it's been in the market about ten years.

Consumers- There are still consumers that don't know about it.

So... so, it's a huge challenge, and that's true of all of our varieties.

While the Cotton Candy grape may be Grapery's most well-known variety, they have several others.

The Moon Drop is an elongated black grape that's crunchy and firm.

The Gum Drop is a red, sweet grape meant to taste like candy.

The Tear Drop is a green, elongated grape.

Like all Grapery products, they are picked at peak sweetness.

♪♪ [Jim] The secret to what we do at Grapery is we let the grapes get really ripe before we pick them.

That's easy to say.

It's really hard to do.

There's no textbooks or classes you can take on how to grow table grapes for great flavor.

We had to innovate around all the different farming and harvesting practices that it takes to grow grapes that consistently taste great.

[Jack] If I don't hear from consumers, that means I haven't wowed them.

I have to deliver a product that is so fantastic that people will take the time to, you know, send a Facebook or an Instagram message or an email to us, or TikTok.

So, it's all about the eating experience for the consumer.

California farms produce 99% of the table grapes sold in the United States, keeping a fresh supply of grapes in stores from May to January.

Harvest starts in the spring at farms in Southern California's Coachella Valley.

By the middle of the summer, Harvest is in full swing at farms like Grapery in the San Joaquin Valley.

But no matter the season, the goal is the same: to produce the world's premier grapes.

[Jim] We have to tell our story about why these are great tasting grapes and... and give people a reason to try our grapes for the first time and to follow us and engage with us and try our new varieties as they come out.

[Jim] You've heard it over and over again.

If you want to do something really well, you have to be passionate about it.

I hope you've seen my passion for doing this, but our whole team is passionate about this.

It drives us every day.

♪♪ You may wonder about the difference between table grapes, which are meant for snacking, and wine grapes, which are grown for- well, wine!

Table grapes are generally seedless, plump, and have a thin skin, giving them a nice pop when you bite into them.

Wine grapes have thicker skin, contain seeds and are smaller in size.

Wine grapes are also much sweeter than table grapes, which is important because high sugar levels are needed during fermentation to convert to alcohol.

Wine grapes are harvested later in the season than table grapes, allowing those sugars to concentrate.

♪♪ [George Sousa, Jr.] Our vision, uh, is to inspire healthy living.

You know, a lot of people would associate prunes with "That's what my grandparents eat," yet almost every mom at some point will feed her infant some form of prunes.

And, um, so, it's really a healthy product that checks all the boxes, regardless of your age group.

[Natalie Mariani Kling] I think that there's huge opportunity for us to sort of rediscover the prune and use it for all ages.

Natalie Mariani Kling and George Sousa are on a mission to change the reputation of the prune.

The cousins believe that the prune's time has come, as Americans have a greater focus on healthier, plant-based eating.

[George] And it just doesn't develop in the middle.

And that's where a lot of the fruit usually is.

[Natalie] Yeah.

Interesting.

Natalie and George are among six family members, all part of the fourth generation who are running the Mariani Packing Company.

Their goal is to introduce new customers to an old fruit.

[Natalie] We think prunes are one of the original superfruits, because if you list the amount of nutrients and antioxidants in a plum or a prune, it outweighs almost all other fruits in the market.

But nobody knows it.

It's kind of like it's secret power.

They're soft and moist and sweet so kids actually love them.

But besides the snacking, there's also all these award-winning chefs that are using prunes to elevate their dishes now.

So, um, we have a prune hoisin sauce that is actually a marinade for ribs.

Prunes are also becoming a popular substitute for sugar in baking, inspiring recipes for just about every kind of dessert you can imagine.

It's a lot of exciting change for a company that's more than 100 years old.

Its founder, Paul Mariani, came to the United States from Croatia in 1906.

He made his way to California, where the dried fruit company was born.

In the early days, fruit was dehydrated in the sun.

During World War II, their prunes made the long journey to Europe.

Today, the heart of the prune industry is located near Yuba City, about 45 miles north of Sacramento.

[George] California supplies probably 95 to 99% of all the prunes grown in the United States- about 40% of the world production.

These trees grow between 4,000 to 6,000 pieces of fruit apiece.

Called the D'Agen plum, it's a different variety than the kind of plum you would eat fresh.

Originally from France, the skin and size of a D'Agen are perfectly suited to become dried prunes.

Once the fruit is ready for harvesting, a highly skilled crew will begin shaking the trees, making sure the pressure is just right so the tree trunk isn't damaged.

[George] It's a- really kind of an art and a science, um, and that's why it's so important to have repeat people that are running these machines that have experience because each tree's a little bit different.

Each day's a little bit different, um, and the fruit, as you go through the season, changes.

Once the fruit is harvested, it's driven on the same day to Mariani's processing plant in nearby Marysville.

The fruit is cleaned in water, sorted along a conveyor belt, and leveled out onto a tray.

Those trays are then rolled into massive tunnels, where the temperature can get as hot as 180 degrees.

Here, the fruit gets dehydrated, staying in the tunnel for about 15 hours or more.

This bit of innovation was the brainchild of one of the Marianis.

[George] We've been the first to develop some really critical pieces of technology that have further advanced the industry.

So, the first one is the drying tunnels.

Those- That was first developed by my grandfather.

When he developed the dehydrator tunnel, it really advanced the whole- our product, but the whole industry.

Because now, from a food safety, cleanliness, consistency of finished product, we are able to put it into ovens, basically, where its time and temperature we can manage to make sure we get the best quality and food safe product out on the other end.

Knowing just how hard their family members have worked to advance this industry motivates the new generation today.

[Natalie] Our ancestors had worked so hard to build this thing up into what it is today, which is this global platform.

And it's an awesome responsibility to take on.

And every day that I go to work, I feel that... that opportunity to... to be a part of driving it forward, and then to... to try to make that as beautiful and rich and generous as we can for the next generation.

With an eye toward those future generations, farmers are also changing the way they grow prunes.

[Mark Kettmann] How we use our water, how we cultivate our ground, how we grow the trees is different.

Today, we're using 40% less water than we did 20 years ago to grow trees.

We leave grass in the fields.

We don't turn the soil or cultivate the soil and let it air out.

We keep grass in the fields to keep the moisture in.

The generation has become smarter.

They've become smarter environmentally.

They've become smarter farmers, and more efficient than years ago.

[Natalie] More than just making dried fruit every day, going forward, we want every product that we make to be- to have a clean label, to be healthier than what we had before, and to be a solution so that we can be a resource for families just like us, trying to eat a little healthier every day.

♪♪ Still ahead on America's Heartland: Meet researchers from a Texas university who are working with local farmers to find a better way to weed their cotton fields- using sheep!

But first, we'll walk you step-by-step through a recipe for Salsa Verde, made from fresh tomatillos, jalapeños, poblano peppers, onions and garlic.

♪♪ [Sharon Profis] Today, we're making Salsa Verde Braised Chicken, and even though we're using just a handful of ingredients for this dish, we're going to build a lot of flavor in the process and it's going to be a delicious thing you can serve to a crowd.

The base of this recipe is salsa verde and there are a lot of ways to use a salsa, but today what we're using it for is actually braising the chicken.

So, let's get started on that component.

The base of the salsa verde is tomatillos.

Now, even though tomatillos look like tomatoes, they're actually a cousin of the tomato and they have this husk around them.

I'm going to start by peeling all of these.

Our tomatillos are peeled and they're on a baking sheet.

To the baking sheet, I'm also adding a jalapeño for a little spice.

Also adding two poblano peppers to balance out the tomatillos, because as the tomatillos roast, they're actually going to take on a little bit more of a sweet flavor, whereas, when they're raw, they tend to be a little bit more tart.

We have one yellow onion.

This, we're just quartering.

So, now, we'll add some garlic.

We'll add four cloves of garlic.

And before this goes into the oven, I'm not adding any oil or any other fat.

It just doesn't need it.

We want that char.

And that's what's really going to build a lot of flavor for this salsa.

I'll put this under the broiler for about 10 minutes, but I'll start checking on it at five.

What we want to see is some nice charring on the tomatillos and our peppers, and then I'll flip them and cook it until the other side is also charred.

It's been about 15 minutes, and now we're ready to make the salsa.

We're going to put all these ingredients in a blender.

And before we put the poblano pepper inside, I do want to just remove this stem, of course, and some of the seeds.

Some folks leave the seeds inside.

That's totally fine if you don't want to fuss with it, but I do like removing them just because sometimes they can be a little bitter and also sometimes you can get a pretty spicy poblano.

So, I like to remove that from the equation.

I'll get all the rest of these ingredients in here, add a little bit of salt, blend it up, and our salsa verde will be ready.

[Sound of blender whirring] At this point, I'm also going to add some cilantro, I'll add half a bunch.

Give it one more whirl.

[Blender whirring] And now, we can take the salsa over to the stove, where we'll start to prepare our chicken and get it braising.

Before our chicken can start braising, we need to brown it.

That's going to build a lot of flavor in this dish, and it's a really important step.

I'll add a little bit of olive oil just to get it going.

I have six chicken thighs that I want to brown.

It'll probably take about five to seven minutes to brown the skin side.

Once it's a nice golden hue, I'll flip it over, give the backside a little bit of color and then do the second batch.

Now that our chicken is browned, it's time to get the salsa verde in this pot with most of the chicken fat that rendered while we were browning the chicken.

OK, perfect.

Our saldsa verde has taken on a slightly darker color.

And we're going to add one cup of low sodium chicken stock.

Now, all that's left to do is put the chicken back inside our pot here.

These are going to braise in here, um, at a pretty low simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes.

What you're looking for, in terms of readiness, is that the chicken is falling off the bone tender.

And to that end, you're welcome to leave it on for an hour or even longer.

While the chicken braises, let's make our pickled red onion topping.

Here's how you make it.

For this simple condiment, you'll just need two to three medium red onions, white vinegar and half a tablespoon of sugar.

Take your peeled red onions and, with a mandolin or a knife, slice quarter-inch rings, then place them in a 16 ounce jar.

♪♪ In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and one cup of vinegar until the sugar dissolves.

Pour it over the onions and top it off with more vinegar so that all the onions are submerged.

Now, place the jar in the fridge overnight and enjoy these pickles on tacos, salad, or even sandwiches.

Our chicken has been braising for about an hour and is definitely falling off the bone, so now it's time to plate it.

So, I love to top it with some cilantro, some radishes, which also add some beautiful color.

I'll also add a few of our pickled red onions and a little bit of queso fresco.

And now, all that's left to do is eat!

♪♪ ♪♪ So, what is a tomatillo?

This small green fruit is native to Mexico, where they play a key role in salsa verde and other green sauces.

The word tomatillo translates to "little tomato" in English, but these are more than just small tomatoes!

Although a tomatillo looks like an unripe tomato, they have very different flavors.

Tomatillos are tart, bringing a bright, tangy flavor to a number of dishes.

The tomatillo is sometimes called a "husk tomato," and belongs to the nightshade family, along with tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.

♪♪ This west Texas field may not look like a university laboratory, but the agricultural research on these 44 cotton plots in San Angelo, Texas, could dramatically reduce the need to use chemicals to fight weeds.

Don't look for researchers in white lab coats here.

Instead, these sheep, in their own wooly white coats, are the focus of the research.

[Reagan Noland] We've got certain weed species that are becoming very problematic, and a lot of these are very palatable for sheep.

And so, the logic here is that sheep will graze the weeds in the cotton before they eat the cotton.

And so, we approach this, um, for one, kind of as proof of concept, because this has never been documented in a scientific research project- running sheep in a cotton crop as a method of weed management.

♪♪ Moving their wooly assistants from corral to the field lab, Dr. Reagan Noland and student Matt Stewart are testing two of the research variables: timing and intensity.

At what stage of cotton growth do you start weeding with sheep?

And how long do you keep the sheep in the crop field?

Having this many plots helps researchers better test those variables.

The good news?

As the sheep do their weeding work, they avoid eating the cotton plants because the plants themselves contain a toxin that sheep find less than tasty.

[Reagan] They're keeping the cotton a lot cleaner.

So, it's exciting to see the contrast between the weedy plots and those that we're running sheep in.

Texas leads the nation in cotton production and raises the lion's share of organic cotton grown in America.

That share has grown in recent years, thanks to higher prices for the organic fibers.

Add to that, consumers preferring the "feel" that organic fibers deliver in clothing and they like products raised without the use of chemicals.

But foregoing chemical herbicides to control weeds has been a challenge, along with protecting the soil for future crops.

[Reagan] When we get into sustainability, this is a big factor.

So, a lot of cotton weed management is tillage-intensive, especially in an organic system where they can't use herbicides.

And so, they're plowing a lot.

They're burning a lot of fuel and they're disturbing the soil quite a bit to manage those weeds.

And then, what weeds they don't catch with a cultivator, they're hand weeding or they're not being able to control them.

[Chad Raines] You... You look through here and the only weeds that are out here are right here, where the cotton is.

So, we can't get it with any type of mechanical plow.

In addition to the Texas A&M University research, sheep rancher Chad Raines is using 145 of his animals for "real world" weed control in this West Texas organic cotton field owned by a neighbor.

Dr. Reid Redden, a sheep specialist, is following the results.

[Reid] Which of these weeds, um, do you see the sheep really selectively go after?

[Chad] You know, it's kind of like on my cover crops.

The sheep, they... they like the variety.

[Reid] We need the basic science.

We need the people in the lab generating, you know, new and novel technologies that you'd never really think of, uh, but we also need the applied people.

Growers and ranchers say there are mutual benefits to sheep weeding.

Seth Fortenberry owns the organic cotton fields being used by Chad Raines.

The weeds provide forage for Chad's sheep, keeping his feed costs down, and Seth eliminates a cost he's faced in the past.

[Seth] We'd mainly just had to hire labor.

You know?

I mean, people to go out there and weed the fields manually, and these sheep, you know, are obviously- they work 24/7, you know, all the time.

I mean, you don't have to worry about them showing up.

You don't have to worry about paying 'em.

I mean, you know, they... they just are good workers.

With organic cotton fetching higher prices than non-organic, farmers say that sheep weeding can deliver savings, economically and environmentally.

[Chad] A lot of our land is family land.

It's been in my family for generations.

I want to take care of it, and sustainable, for me, is that I'm doing...

I'm doing my job.

I'm taking care of it.

It's going to last.

It's going to be here for my kids and my grandkids, and... and, uh, it's, you know, it's still going to be productive.

♪♪ Now, no one knows where cotton was first grown, but early fibers were found in caves in Mexico dating back some 7,000 years.

And early on, it was being cultivated in India and Pakistan.

The word cotton is an English version of an Arabic term, meaning "fancy fabric," but- and you'll like this- one of the earlier popular names for cotton was "vegetable wool."

Merchants brought cotton to Europe in 800 A.D., which was, of course, good news for folks wearing those scratchy wool garments.

Today, cotton is used in clothing, animal feed, oil for cooking and fertilizer.

That's it for this edition of America's Heartland.

For more stories, full episodes and recipes, visit americasheartland.org or connect with us on Facebook.

♪ You can see it in the eyes of every woman and man ♪ ♪ in America's heartland, living close to the land.

♪ ♪ There's a love for the country and a pride in the brand ♪ ♪ in America's heartland, living close, ♪ ♪ close to the land.

America's Heartland is made possible by... ♪♪