What's in season in March
With wet weather eased but dams full, it is a very favourable vegetable growing season in most regions of eastern Australia. Look for the veggies that are in abundance - Asian greens, Lebanese cucumbers, silverbeet, rainbow chard, celery, cabbage...
In short, thanks to favourable weather conditions for summer growth, quality and quantity is up and prices are down for a wide range of fruit and veg.
Fruit
It’s apple season, so the apples you are buying – red and green – are new season and not from storage. As always, support local and buy direct from Glenbernie Orchard – or from Flame Tree if you want to avoid the drive up the hill.
When there’s apples, there’s usually pears – the whole range, including corella, Beurre Bosc (brown skin – ideal for poaching), Williams, the old favourite Packhams, and even Nashis.
Avocados are abundant, including hass (rough crinkly dark skin) and shepard (smooth green skin). Berries are around, including blueberries and strawberries. Grapes, red and green, are everywhere as expected.
Citrus season is looming with plentiful grapefruit (yellow and ruby), lemons, limes and Valencia oranges through autumn, though many prefer the navels, which are a winter crop.
Other fruits on offer are pineapples, papaya, watermelon and rockmelon.
Stone fruit, such as peaches and nectarines, are disappearing but plums are still available through March. Take advantage and make a spiced plum jam (omit the port for an alcohol-free version).
Vegetables
With wet weather easing but dams full, it is a very favourable vegetable growing season in most regions of eastern Australia. Look for the veggies that are in abundance – Asian greens, Lebanese cucumbers, silverbeet, rainbow chard, celery, cabbage (red and green) and broccoli. Most of these can be bought from local growers such as Calderwood Organics and Dapto Community Farm.
The full range of potatoes is available, including Dutch cream, Sebago, Désirée, Pontiac and Kipfler. Some of our greengrocers stock local Robertson potatoes, so enjoy these for their freshness and low food miles. I have seen them at Leisure Coast in Fairy Meadow.
Tomatoes, round, Roma and cherry, capsicum (red and green), eggplant and zucchini are plentiful and well-priced. This shouts ratatouille – the veggie stew that originated in Provence in the south of France. Here is my tried and true recipe.
