What a great time of the year for fruit. All mangoes are now at their absolute best and we now welcome Honey Golds into the range as well. We are at the height of the Northern Territory season and the next ten days or so will be fantastic. Then we take a break as we cross over to North Queensland and then back in full swing again. There are some incredible bargains to be had in our imperfect pick mangoes this week if a full tray is too many for you. Peaches, nectarines and apricots are all well priced and delicious. Topless pineapples though small in size are very good and we have lots of bananas to sell. The flush of summer raspberries is just starting, more about that next week. The first good cherries are now with us and they will just get better every week. My pick of the week this week is Western Australian Hass avocados. For the past twenty or so years at this time of the year we relied on New Zealand to supply our fruit through until the new season starts in far north Queensland in mid March. Not any more. There is a small group of growers mostly in the Pemberton region which is about 300 kilometres south of Perth who are amongst the best farmers in this country. They are so good, so professional and grow such good eating fruit that as they expand I am afraid there is not any future for any other regions or countries to sell fruit to Australia. These guys own the market from mid October until the end of February or even mid to late March depending how early mature fruit is available from Queensland. I understand these guys will be producing in the vicinity of 5 million trays within the next couple of years, truly impressive stuff. They just finish off the summer salads we all love in the next few months.
IN VEGETABLE
The veg news is not so bright. Most vegetables cannot withstand that massive heat we got at the end of last week. Anything that was an old crop or any sort of leafy green have been decimated. Happily, the younger crops that mostly do get through these heatwaves grow very quickly at this time of the year. Hence shortages, quality issues and potentially higher prices will be short-lived. There are some good zucchinis and gold squash about and we have secured an excellent line of Kestrel potatoes this week but by and large veg will be difficult for a week or so.
