A Quick Guide to Autumn Seasonal Produce in New Zealand: Discover What’s Fresh & In-Season
Autumn might be one of the best seasons in our beautiful little country - I mean, there's a 25% chance it's your favourite season too, right?!
The days are warm without being too hot, the nights are cool without being too cold, and the landscape looks stunning with the deciduous trees changing colour.
It's also the time of abundance in terms of food and harvest.
Given our proximity to supermarkets, with their variety of food products and imported goods, it can be hard to know what's in season if you aren't out there growing it yourself… so here's a quick guide to autumn seasonal produce!
In terms of late summer crops, we still have a profusion of greenhouse goodies: tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and peppers are still on the menu… but not for too much longer!
If you've been wondering about making bulk tomato sauces to bottle or freeze for winter, now is the time to stop procrastinating!
Corn is still pumping - again, not for too much longer, so it would be prudent to make the most of it while we can!
Our onions have been harvested and are in storage, so in a sense they're in season… but only for as long as our stocks last (fingers crossed they'll take us through winter!).
Fresh onions are being substituted with leeks - another delicious and versatile crop that will carry us through the next 6 months or so!
Autumn and winter are the brassica family's time to shine: cabbages, broccoli , cauliflower, kale, cavolo nero, pak choi, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi - yikes, there are a few, aren't there?!
These crops are super hardy, so can tolerate the rather inhospitable conditions that our cold, wet season throws at them.
Likewise, our salad and lettuce crops are pretty tough, which means they'll stay on the menu for the next wee while - thank goodness!
Like the brassicas, autumn and winter are the seasons for our root crops - think beetroot, carrots, potatoes, celeriac.
Sure, bunched carrots and beetroot will be going out of fashion soon as their tops die off… but the roots themselves are as delicious as ever! If you're ever curious, the farmers markets are the perfect place to see what's fresh and in season.