David Stewart: Enjoy fresh asparagus now while it's in season

Asparagus season is only here from October through until late December so enjoy now.

With abundant rain and warmer temperatures, your green vegetables and salad lines are growing superbly.

Fresh asparagus, broccoli, avocados, capsicums, cucumbers, iceberg lettuces and tomatoes are the top selling lines, all at very reasonable prices for the middle of spring.

Remember the asparagus season is only here from October through until late December so enjoy now at these good prices.

The quality of broccoli from Sundale Farms in Pukekohe has been superb lately and with the good prices sales have been strong.

Look out for good prices on locally grown new season courgettes, Australian beans, Palmerston North celery along with Alan Fong's baby spinach and slender stem broccoli which are all proving popular in the shop.

Hot house capsicums, cucumbers and tomatoes from the Pukekohe area along with John Clarke's beautiful iceberg lettuces from Levin all tossed together with a nice big hass avocado will make you a lovely salad for not a lot of money spent.

Demand for the root crop vegetables has tapered off quite quickly over the last few weeks, some of this is price related but mostly it is now spring and salads are obviously the popular meal choice.

The Ohakune carrot season is slowly coming to a finish and the supply of Pukekohe spring carrots is slowly increasing and prices are firm.

Your potato selection remains good with old season rua and agria potatoes along with new season ilam hardy potatoes.

Northland kumara prices are steady but Hawke's Bay crown pumpkins and Pukekohe brown onions are firming in price, typical in spring time.

In the fruit section of the shop things are changing quite quickly which again is normal for this time of year.

The supply of the cheaper Hawke's Bay apples will finish within the next fortnight and we will then have the premium yummy brand apples or US imports to see us through until Christmas and hopefully into the New Year.

The local pear season will also finish within the next fortnight and again US imports will be your only choice for the next few months.

Gisborne navel oranges have been badly affected by the heavy rain and supplies are extremely short which does not bode well for the next few weeks with the imported US navel oranges not due until late November.

Supplies of top quality green kiwifruit are getting harder to find and prices are firming.

Due to the heavy rain last week new season strawberries are in very short supply, hopefully things will improve later this week.

I am sorry about all the bad news but this is all normal for this time of year and we are looking forward to all the good things of summer like berries, cherries and stone fruit.

On a better note you will find good buying on US grapes and pomegranates, Mexican and Australian mangos and Australian rock melons which are all in good supply and selling at very reasonable prices.

Remember to buy what is in season and on special.

- David Stewart is the owner of The Fresh Market Gate Pa and home delivery service mygreengrocer.co.nz