What's in season in January

Fruit

Mangoes, mangoes, mangoes! It has been a record season, so go out and get great quality mangoes at low prices. It’s a good chance to buy up a load and puree them to freeze – imagine having fresh summer mango mid-winter! You could also slice them thinly and dry them if you have a dehydrator, or you can also use a very slow oven.

For many other summer fruits it hasn’t been a great season, being cold and wet in many parts of the country. Peaches, plums and nectarines have really suffered with many locations having a terrible season. Our local Glenbernie supply has also suffered, but what’s available is delicious and snapped up pretty quickly.

Here’s an update from farmer Jo Fahey:

Stone fruit has been tasting amazing and flying off the shelf. Pick Your Own groups are filling up quick as we are running limited numbers of groups due to having less fruit available. The rain last year at stone fruit flowering [time] reduced the amount of peaches produced this season. Our last variety of white peach – Snow King – will start in about a week or so [though] it’s hard to tell. Cooler weather means they mature and grow more slowly. We never know in advance when they are ready – it’s not till about three days before picking that we know. Apples will start early February kicking off with Royal Gala followed by Fuji.

Join the Glenbernie team for Cider Sunday on Sunday, 22 January, 10am-3pm.

Cherries have been later this year with some good quality fruit around from South Australia and Victoria. Grapes are starting to appear now. Tropical fruits from North Queensland are in good supply, including red papaya, rockmelon, honeydew, and dragonfruit and lychees will come on soon. Citrus (grapefruit, lemons and limes) is always scarce at this time of year. Pears will start to appear at a similar time to new season apples in late January, early February.

Vegetables

Many of the veggies that you should expect to see at this time of year are in short supply and pricy. This is directly due to wet, cold conditions that mean farmers have been unable to prepare the soil for planting. Leafy greens like spinach, rocket, kale and silverbeet have been of poor quality and scarce, in part due to continued labour shortages as well as unfavourable weather.

With La Niña easing and with it the cool, wet conditions, some warm dry weather will see a better outlook for our farmers and our fresh produce supply in the short to medium term.

Veggies typically available now include asparagus, beetroot, beans, cucumbers, eggplant, tomato, zucchini, garlic, onions and potatoes.

In short supply are silverbeet, sweet potato, celery, cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage.

When shopping for your fresh produce, the prices will often be indicative of availability – lower prices means good availability. Use this to your advantage, and buy local if you can!