As we enter the second month of winter, let’s see what’s in season this month!
Fruit
As we head into July, the fruit and veggies we can expect to see in season will look very similar to last month. Unfortunately, not a lot changes in fruit and veggies during the winter.
There are lots of apple varieties around and still plenty of pears. Red pears have finished their crop but Nashi, Packham and Buerre Bosc (Brown Skin) varieties are still around. Red Papaya varieties are flushing but adding these to your shopping list is a great way to help out our North Queensland growers. There is plenty of banana and melon stock coming from North Queensland. Citrus, lemons, tangelo’s, mandarins, grapefruit and navel oranges are plentiful, so make sure to add these to your shopping list. Limes are starting to climb in price, but availability is still good.
Avocados are a great value at the moment with good supply at low prices. All of the growers have had quite a good crop this year. Strawberries are coming out of the Sunshine Coast region. Supply is up and prices are starting to come down. However, the wet weather we have had recently might result in supply shortening up later in the year. Pineapples are also coming from the Sunshine Coast region and are in reasonable supply.
Vegetables
July is a cross-over month. We are still getting produce from our southern suppliers, whilst the Queensland growers have started their season. This means fruit and vegetables will be in great supply with great quality and good prices.
Broccoli is selling for half of what it was last month and we can expect prices to stay low for at least the next four weeks. Brassicas are readily available with supply coming from 3 different regions across Australia. Cauliflower varieties are coming from the Mornington Peninsula. With purple, green and yellow varieties in season, Cauliflower is a great way to eat all of your colours. Celery prices are climbing slowly but supply remains strong. Beetroots and Leeks are coming from Busch Organics, a family-run farm in Gippsland.
Leafy greens such as Cos and Iceberg lettuce, silverbeet, eschallots and all of the Choy family (Pak, Bok and Sum) are bountiful and available from multiple regions. Eggplant is coming from North Queensland and Sweetcorn from the Childers area. Potatoes are coming from Brisbane, the Lockyer Valley, Tasmania and Victoria. Dutch Creams, Sebago, Kipfler, Pontiac, Nicola and King Edward varieties are all available. The carrot season has also kicked off in Queensland’s salad bowl.
July is boom time for pretty much all of our vegetables, with perhaps the following exceptions:
Tomatoes are in short supply and will most likely stay that way for the next month. On the upside, you can expect a reasonable supply of Cherry Toms to be available in stores. Zucchinis are in short supply but should improve later into the month. Onion prices will increase in the short term as Southern growers finish out their season. Prices will come back down once Queensland growers start their harvest at the end of July. Expect prices to climb and quality to drop, until the Queensland crop begins.
Have a nice July and remember to eat all of your colours!
The Team at United Organics
Image: Shutterstock
