Produce Report - Late Spring 07
Summer Fruit
The beautiful stone fruit that signals the beginning of summer is here at last. Cherries and Apricots are first up, and you'll notice that the flavour is fantastic this year. Due in part to the low rainfall, the cherries and apricots are bursting with flavour. Watch out for different varieties over the next few weeks, many growers plant different varieties to get a longer harvest season. Cherries and Apricots will be around til just after Christmas, so make the most of them while they are here. When the weather starts to get really hot, any remaining fruit spoils so quickly that it doesn't make it to market.
Premium cherries are available for Christmas, in 2kg or 5kg boxes. Prices vary depending on size and variety, but the price of a 2kg box will start around $40. Please ask staff for details. (Orders for Christmas need to be in by 17th December.)
The mangoes are still going strong, with the early fruits from Northern Territory coming to an end, with Queensland mangos starting to come through now. We should have a good supply of mangos through until January.
Peaches and Nectarines have arrived, with early yellow varieties showing good flavour and texture. These crops develop great flavour without too much water, although not in great quantities. Keep an eye out for the delicious white varieties that will be here soon. Plums have come into season, and with their many different varieties we will have plums till late March.
Beautiful Berry Fruits are starting to be available now, and the local supply will continue through summer. The blueberries have made an early appearance this year, due to the mild winter. If you would like particular berries for Christmas or special occasions this year, remember we can always order them especially for you.
Apples, Oranges and Bananas, the staples of our winter will continue in good supply, and we should have enough late season apples to see us through to the first harvest of the new season in late January. Sundowner Apples are one of the last varieties to be picked, and along with Fujis are amongst the best choices. It is worth remembering that apples at this time of year are have been in cool storage since harvest, so to preserve their texture and flavour, it is best to keep them in the fridge. Valencias are the oranges to choose at this time of year, they have plenty of juice and firm texture for slicing.
Avocados - The dark skinned Hass variety are starting to become scarce now, with the green skin Fuerte starting towards the new year.
Summer Vegetables
Asparagus continues, but as the weather warms up you'll see supply start to drop. The local supply of many green veges has just begun, with Zucchini, Yellow squash, Mesculin, Spinach, Broccoli, Silver beet and Rainbow chard all now from Victorian growers.
Carrots are now from a local grower in Swan Hill, and we have some fantastic tomatoes, cherry toms and Lebanese Cucumbers from a local grower. (look out for tomatoes labeled with the growers name,- Labatouche)
After the onion shortage due to the floods in NSW, growers have come back with great new season onions, with both red and brown varieties. We have beautiful Biodynamic purple garlic, which you'll find has a strong sharp flavour. This flavour will mellow as the season continues, or can be softened with the heat of cooking.
Celery
We should see celery return in a few weeks.
We have new season Sebago and Dutch Cream potatoes from Queensland, with local spuds expected in mid December. Potato growers have been severely affected by water allocations, so we are seeing growers further north thinking about growing potatoes, as they have more adequate water supplies.
Locally grown herbs are lush and beautiful this year, we look forward to using interesting flavours such as greek oregano, marjoram, sage, lemon thyme, dill and beautiful varieties of basil.
