IN FRUIT
Now we truly are in Autumn with the Autumn fruits now in full swing. A very old fashioned apple which has always been a favourite of mine is the Jonathan. These were probably the most common apple in Australia as an early apple forty years ago before we invented Galas. They are now only with us for about six weeks so if it is a taste you remember fondly now is their time. There are two types, the red Jonathan, dark red all over and the less common but quite as good to eat striped Jonathan not considered as desirable in appearance. My verdict buy the striped ones if you can find them .This year the price seems very cheap too me. These early Jonathans are grown at Bilpin ,only 50 miles or so from Sydney, you wont get a fresher apple than these. Don’t try to keep them for long , three or four days only and in this warm, humid weather definitely in the fridge, not out in the bowl. The other great value apple at Harris Farm Markets this week is our Imperfect Galas. They are just as good to eat as the far more expensive fruit on the premium stack. We still have mangoes in store and that does not often happen in March. Our Palmers are very good value this week and we even have a small selection of KPs from the Riverina arriving fresh every day, however these are quite expensive. Grapes are still fantastic and although the black muscatels are now finished the Crimson Seedless are now coming into their own and challenging the white seedless to be our customers number one choice. We are seeing the first of the season Aussie pomegranates in store and an absolute plethora of figs and plums there seems to be new varieties of plums in store every week. The Tegans and the Mid Reds are my pick of the plums this week. Finally there is an absolute glut of limes this week and they are priced accordingly and work out far cheaper than lemons.
IN VEGETABLE
As the fruit range adjusts in Autumn so too does the vegetable offer. Lots of products are either easing in price or remaining as cheap as they have been. Lebanese Cues, Caulies and most potatoes and onions continue to be inexpensive and Jap pumpkin and Kumara are definitely easing in price. Broccoli, Beans, Corn, Red Caps, Zucchini, Brussel Sprouts, Chinese Cabbage and Zucchini are all easing in price. Generally speaking not much is scarce and prices are favouring the consumer this week.
