My pick of the week is Reed avocados. Not well known but much loved by those who do know them. It is larger than most avocados, with a skin that remains green when the fruit ripens and is round in shape unlike most other avocados. They have a nutty flavour quite different to the far better known black skin Hass variety and cut fruit stores well in the fridge - again differently to other varieties. They do have somewhat large seed but the fruit is very large also, meaning each avocado provides a lot of fruit. I have never really liked Queenslad or Western Australia reeds, the good ones come from South Australia and only start in mid December. They are generally available until mid February. This will be the avocado that the Harris family enjoys for the next month or so. Kensington Prides are the pick of the mangoes this week. Really great quality and well priced, this week will be the best of the season as it is looking like really heavy rain up there in the next few days. As the apple season draws to a close (personally I think most apples aren’t that good come January and there are too many other great options so why bother) this week looks good for yellow nectarines, white peaches and lychees. This next week will see a huge number of Tasmanian cherries arriving in Sydney, I think these are my favourite summer fruit. Most grapes are fantastic as we move southward where the best grapes come. Though the black varieties could be sweeter, my pick this week are the white seedless. Again I would recommend our Aussie Valencia oranges over the imported USA navels, this is the best Valencia season for taste in over a decade. In berries, we are seeing mainland and Tasmanian varieties overlap and the consumer is the beneficiary. Enjoy your summer fruit bonanza.
IN VEGETABLE
Vegetables are always subject to the vagaries of the weather at this time. Rain and heat are bad news for most vegetable lines. This year is no exception. Good old reliable lines such as potatoes, onions and carrots are fine. Radish, basil, English spinach most of the herbs and some of the less resilient salad lines such as those beautiful Mache Rosettes and the broad leaf rocket are all very tricky. Each year at this time bean quality also suffers. At Harris Farm we have a very strong relationship with a very substantial farming family the Ngovs who are less than 20 kms from us in western Sydney. At this time their new crop of snake beans are at their absolute best and we recommend you try these instead of the green beans. Broccoli has also eased in price and cucumbers are in less demand due to the colder weather leading to price reductions there also. Barring an unexpected heat wave all should be back to normal next week. Next week will of course be 2016 and Cathy, myself and all our family wish you our customers a happy healthy and prosperous new year.
