In season late autumn: Leeks
Buying
Choose leeks with medium-sized stems. Look for fresh green tops and white fleshy...
In season mid-autumn: Nashi
In New Zealand, speckled and yellowy-green nashi are commonly grown in the Waikato.
They...
In season mid-autumn: Turnips
Compared to the larger, yellow or orange-fleshed swede, the turnip is usually smaller...
In season early autumn: Celery, celeriac
Celery belongs to the plant genus Umbelliferae, along with carrots and parsley.
Celery
Buying
Choose a...
In season early autumn: Apples
Buying
Look for firm unblemished fruit with rich colouring. A damaged apple releases ethylene,...
In season late summer: Stone fruit
These summer fruit are characteristically fleshy with a stone (seed) in the middle...
In season late summer: Sweet corn
Buying
To determine whether sweet corn is ripe, gently pull back the husk. Corn...
In season mid-summer: Strawberries
Buying
Strawberries are delicate and don’t ripen after being picked so choose plump, bright-coloured...
In season mid-summer: Tomatoes
Botanically speaking, tomatoes are fruit — but as tomatoes are used in savoury...
In season early summer: Avocados
The Hass variety is the most common variety of avocado grown in New...
In season early summer: Cucumbers
Cucumbers can come in a variety of colours (white, yellow, green), and sizes...
In season late spring: Peas
Pea varieties include green peas, petit pois, sugar snap peas and snow peas.
Of...
In season late spring: Blackberries
Although this summer fruit has ‘berry’ in its name, botanically speaking blackberries aren’t...
In season mid-spring: Sage
The scientific name for this slightly bitter herb, Salvia officinalis, comes from the...
In season mid-spring: Broad beans
The hardy broad bean plant can grow through winter to emerge as one...
In season early spring: Parsnips
With their pale, carrot-like appearance, it’s not surprising parsnips are a relative of...
In season late winter: Silver beet
This dark-green, leafy vegetable is called chard, Swiss chard in the US and...
