IN FRUIT
A hot, dry week with Christmas Eve on a Sunday and good quality, reasonably priced mangoes and cherries is pretty much Green Grocer heaven. We certainly have all that this week. It has been nearly ten years since I have seen cherries as well supplied and excellent quality in Christmas week. Newer varieties are now being grown all over Australia and they are fantastic to eat. There has not been a better mango season for a long time either. KPs are the best this year. Lychees, figs, apricots and rockmelons are all superb. Lychees, in particular, are really good. All grapes are now eating well and berries, especially blueberries are plentiful and cheap, having recovered from heavy rain early in the month. The only difficult spot we have is with avocados, which are more expensive than I can ever remember. They are however very good quality, at least the Australian product is - New Zealand fruit is not keeping at all well. We even have a bit of good news on this front. Our South Australian growers have come good with those magnificent Reed avocados for us this week. Timing is everything. Not understood by many, these Reeds are the best value per kg of avocado and are my favourite to eat too. It’s a fruit feast at Harris Farm this week. Merry Christmas all.
IN VEGETABLES
As always, demand exceeds supply this week and so it is a difficult week to supply everyone everything they want. There are a few staples that are good value. Kestrel potatoes, my favourite, are the best offer in the potato range. Although white and purple sweet potato are in very short supply, kumera is excellent and well-priced. Some years, beans are very hard to buy, but this year not so. Together with broccolini that should cover us for greens without breaking the bank. For the salads, cucumbers and Lebanese cucumbers are both well supplied. In tomatoes, not such good news, however, look to our snacking tomatoes - especially Medley Mix and Sweet Delights which are both very tasty and not so dear. Lettuce and all the mixes are in good supply, so Christmas is covered at Harris Farm.
