What's in season in Sydney: December
Posted by kathryn in Uncategorized
Fruit:
- Apricot: this is the best month for apricots in Australia. At the moment though I’m unsure where the locally sold fruit are from. I’ll try to find out in the next few days.
- Avocadoes: Hass
- Berries: the Victorian berry season is in full swing, with raspberries, youngberries, blackberries and so on all in season. However I’ve also bought cheap(-ish) NSW raspberries, strawberries and blueberries over the last 7 days.
- Cherries: coming into season, although most current stocks are from Victoria. In NSW cherries grown in Young are picked in December, so they’ll start flowing into shops real-soon. Update also being picked in Orange at the moment.
- Grapefruit: ruby grapefruits are still particularly good, but they’ll be going out of season this month
- Lemons
- Limes Update these may not be locally grown – I’m trying to work out their provenance at the moment
- Oranges: navels
- Peaches & nectarines: grown in Victoria, South Australia, parts of Queensland and also NSW, so check the provenance of your local supplier
Vegetables
- Asparagus: The season is coming to an end and prices will start rising soon.
- Asian greens
- Beetroot: beautiful, beautiful new season beetroot available at the moment. I can’t get enough of it.
- Celery
- Cucumbers
- Garlic: finally local garlic is back in season.
- Herbs
- Leeks
- Lettuce
- Peas
- Radishes
- Rhubarb
- Silverbeet
- Snowpeas
- Spinach
- Tomatoes: are finally in season. At the moment the best are truss and egg tomatoes, although I’ve also bought some lovely cherry plum tomatoes recently.
- Wild rocket
- Zucchini
The monthly what’s in season guide is compiled from a number of sources, including: the Harris Farm Market and Fratelli Fresh market updates; Lettuce Deliver’s weekly shopping guide; the Sydney Markets seasonal guide; updates in Donna Hay and Delicious magazines; a range of books; as well as my own observations of what’s currently available and good value. I sometimes continue to make updates during the month, as fruit and veg availability changes.
Photograph by Gio JL.
04 December, 2008
Comments
Oh I am so jealous. It’s freezing cold in London and all soft fruit are disappearing (unless flown in from warmer climes…)
The cherries from Orange are sooo sweet this year! I bought some at our Farmers’ Market last Saturday. Delicious…but they’re all eaten now and I wish I’d bought more.
I’m puzzled by your list stating that limes are in season, because the ones from Narromine (Central West NSW) are definitely out of season at the moment, just when I need the juice for Asian salads. :( I wonder where the “in season” ones are coming from?
Mallika: Sophie pointed out a good article on linked to an article on the ethics of eating tropical fruit at Christmas in the Northern hemisphere. Not perfect, but possibly a good compromise?
Rhonda: thanks so much for your comment. The cherries at my fruit and veg store (which is usually cheap) are still $17 a kilo – too pricey for me. Although I’ve been eyeing them off for the last few weeks.
The in-season list is only ever a work in progress. I find it incredibly difficult to gather good, accurate information. Limes are super-cheap here in Sydney at the moment, and I’m sure I read somewhere they were coming from northern NSW. But I can’t for the life of me find the source again. So I’m adding a query to the list above.
Thanks for your feedback – any more feedback you can give about what’s being grown out Orange way would be greatly appreciated. And it may help to keep my in-season list current and accurate.
Rhonda emailed me with further information about the cherries and other local produce. I thought you’d be interested, so after gaining her permission, I’m re-printing Rhonda’s email here.
I’m actually in Dubbo, but our Farmers’ Market, which is held every two weeks, attracts growers from Mudgee, Orange and further west from Dubbo – Saltbush Lamb for instance!
The reason cherries are so expensive, and not likely to get much cheaper is the storms that we had a few weeks ago. Remember the snow on the Blue Mountains? A lot of the cherry harvest in Orange was lost to hail and frost damage at that point.
I’ll ask Suzy, the lime grower from Narromine, about the limes next week. She’s used to me complaining that the limes are abundant in winter and then missing at Christmas time, when I’d love to have lime juice in an occasional gin and tonic
The rest of your list pretty much reflects what was there last Saturday. I got beautiful fresh beetroot, fresh (uncured) brown onions, fresh organic garlic and salad leaves, cherries and raspberries from Orange (yum!!) and a bucket of avocadoes, which came from too far away for someone trying hard to buy locally, but it was only from Lismore, and they were only $8 a bucket!
And I love your blog! It’s always got such great information and I have discovered so many great recipes by following your links. I had an idea for a recipe challenge, too. What about one using fruit and vegetables that are in season and available locally? (Local to wherever that person lives would be fine!) – and you have to use at least 3 of those items in the recipe . . .
Rhonda
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