Produce report

FRESH IN:

The original Owairaka kumaras (red skins, white flesh) and the orange variety are especially good buying now, although all colours of kumara are plentiful and affordable.

While red Owairaka is the most popular and recognised variety, try changing your selection for different tastes. Gold kumara (Toka Toka) has a beautiful flavour, great for curries and soups, and we love orange kumara (Beauregard), the sweetest of the varieties, caramelised in a roast vege salad. A new variety called Purple Dawn is purple inside and out and has a flavour that’s not quite as sweet as other varieties. Cabbage and cauliflower are looking robust now, and very well-priced. Navel oranges and grapefruit are good buying “and now is the time to enjoy New Zealand lemons which will be great buying for the next couple of months”, says New World Fresh Expert Brigit Corson. “Meyer lemons are the most common right now. They’re your classic ‘backyard lemon tree’ variety — sweet and bright with minimal seeds.”

LOOK FOR:

“It’s looking good for the first of the new season asparagus which you’ll start to see trickling into your local New World in late August,” says Brigit. “We expect to have lots of fresh bunches available for your spring salads by midSeptember.”

That’s exciting news, asparagus being one of the harbingers of spring. Look for Australian strawberries too. Our local ones are still six or so weeks away.

MOVING ON:

“There have been delays in the arrival of first new season Californian grapes but by later this week there will be plenty around,” says Brigit. “It’s the same story for local chillies, but hopefully you managed to harvest some from the garden (or you bought loads back in autumn) and have frozen them.” Capsicums and tomatoes are still light on supply which is normal for winter — the good news is they’ll become more plentiful over the next four to five weeks as we move into warmer temperatures,” she says.