What's in season in Sydney: April
Posted by kathryn in Uncategorized
The weather is noticeably cooler. While still available, the stone fruit is rubbish. The cooking segment on the radio this morning featured parsnips. All of which signals we’re moving right into Autumn.
And this means the fruit and vegies that are in season, starts to change quite radically.
Fruit:
- Apples: new season Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smiths, Royal Gala and Jonathon’s are all in stores. The best are probably Galas and Fujis.
- Avocadoes: Shepards are in season
- Berries: I’m still seeing locally grown raspberries, strawberries and blueberries in the shops, but they’re rising in price.
- Cumquats
- Custard apples: Pink Mammoth and African Pride are both available
- Figs: still around, although they won’t be for much longer and prices will be rising.
- Grapes
- Lemonade fruit
- Limes: including finger limes
- Oranges although watch what you’re buying as many stores are still stocking US oranges
- Passionfruit
- Pears: Buerre Bosc, Corellas, Josephines and Williams all available
- Plums: Amber Jewel, Black Amber, President and Radiance plums all plentiful
Vegetables
- Asian greens
- Beans: green, borlotti, butter and snake beans all available
- Bitter melon
- Broccolini
- Brussels sprouts: coming into season, although prices are quite high, the quality is not great and they’re generally huge. Pick smaller, tightly packed Brussels if you can find them.
- Carrots: meant to be in season, but I’m not so sure. Most I’ve bought in the last two weeks have been large and woody.
- Cauliflowers
- Celeriac
- Celery
- Chestnuts: apparently in season, although I haven’t seen any in the shops yet
- Chillies
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Fennel: starting to come into season, but probably expensive.
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks: starting to come into season. Still expensive.
- Lettuce
- Okra
- Onions
- Parsnips
- Potatoes
- Pumpkins
- Silverbeet
- Spinach
- Sweet potato
- Turnips
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; Vincent Tesoriero’s excellent weekly email market update; 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 Canong2fan.
07 April, 2009
Comments
Hello Kathryn. It’s nice to be back.
About the oranges – I have been so disallusioned with them. I prefer to use the navels but I refuse to purchase them from US which they all appear to be. As for the valencias, they have been pale, unjuicy and tasteless even though australian grown. Watching Landline recently I believe the orange industry is finally back on its feet so hopefully the public may get to enjoy a "real’ orange again.
Sigh, such a lovely long list of fruit! We have rhubarb growing in the UK at the moment, but that’s basically it. And I’ve never heard of lemonade fruit – off to google it now…
Equally as useful, I shall dub this post “What is NOT in season in Boston, MA” :-)
Great list, Kathryn. Thanks! The only thing I’d add is that ginger is in season, looking and tasting delicious at the moment. Interesting that you say the fig season is coming to an end in Syydney. It must start later in the mountains and on the Western Plains – the first time I saw figs at the Farmer’s Market in Dubbo was three weeks ago, and last Saturday they were $5 a kilo. I’m hoping for at least another month of them, which means another two market days to indulge myself.
The potato grower from south of Blayney tells me that he has just started digging and that he’ll have potatoes now until about the end of August. The Dutch Creams that I bought on Saturday are fabulous. And the Narromine limes are back! Yay! I’m squeezing them over everything at the moment, and trying to resist buying a bottle of gin so that I can have them in a gin and tonic…
Hi Kathryn. It’s nice to be back.
Sophie I googled it as well and was most surprised to see it was a cross between a lemon and a mandarin. All this time I thought it was a cross between an orange and a lemon. We even had a tree.
Sophie: lemonade fruit are wondrous little things. They always look really scabby and unglamorous, but they taste wonderful. It’s a type of citrus, sweeter than a lemon, but not as sweet as an orange. They’re only in season for a short while, but make the best salad dressing sour and a squeeze over spicy roasted vegetables is amazing.
You’ll have to console yourself with a bunch of asparagus or two – definitely not in season here!
Michelle – nope we have quite different seasons from you!
Rhonda: thanks for the feedback. I’ve only been seeing old season ginger in my local shops – hence I didn’t put it on the list. I’ll double-check this weekend. Figs have been available here for at least 6 weeks now and they’ve been beautiful, but I noticed this week they’re just starting to inch up in price.
I had some Dutch cream potatoes last week – they are a lovely variety.
That list of vegetables is starting to look like soup weather. I had my first cauliflower this week since they’re so cheap.
I always find this list so helpful – thanks Kathryn! Not only does it help me buy seasonally (well as best as I can anyway!) but it’s a great reminder to try something new – be it a new fruit (lemonade fruit) or veg (Kohlrabi) or an interesting new recipe to try old favourites!
I saw on Landline recently that the orange industry has recovered after five years in the wilderness. It will be so nice to see ‘grown in australia’ again on the navel oranges. I was getting really ticked off with all the navels from the US and the aussie valencias have been pitiful.
Renee: Orange Grove Market will definitely have lemonade fruit. Don’t be put off by their slightly warty/unexciting exterior, they are fantastic.
Kathryn, Radiance are the only raw plums I like – and I LOVE them – but I haven’t been able to find them in Sydney. Can you help??
Katherine, plums are pretty much gone at this time of year. They’re a late summer, early Autumn crop and most varieties are over by the end of April. I haven’t bought any for a couple of weeks now. So you’ll have to get in a bit earlier next year I’m afraid. Start looking for them at the end of February. If you’re looking for specific varieties of plum, then you might need to look further afield than the supermarket. Harris Farm Market always stock a good range, as do some of the better high street fruit and veg stores. Let your local know that you’re interested in Radiance and I’m sure they’ll get some in for you.
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