Seasonal Fruits & Vegetables Guide

Think of it as going to back to basics: sourcing your kitchen ingredients from your garden. Whilst this seems to be a growing trend all over the world, in many parts of Australia and Oz, it has long been the way of life of folks with big properties. When you have great weather and a large outdoor space, it’s hard not to constantly think about how you can get functional mileage from it. And what better way to get more use out of your outdoor space than to turn it into one of your home’s source of “sustenance?”

For an edible garden, one of the keys to a successful harvest is carefully selecting the fruits and vegetables to plant. You need to know what will thrive well in your area based on quality of soil and your climate. Likewise, it will help a lot to know more about seasonal fruits and vegetables. This way, you can have fresh picks throughout the year.

Here’s a seasonal fruit and vegetable guide for year-round planting success for your edible garden.

Winter

In the winter, the following are what you can expect to harvest:

Fruits – apple (except in Sydney), blood orange, cumquat, custard apple, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lime, mandarins, nashi, navel orange, persimmons, pears, pineapple, quince, rhubarb and tangelo.

Vegetables – Asian greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, fennel, horseradish, kale, leek, okra, onion, olives, peas, potato, pumpkin, spinach and turnip.

Spring

This season yields:

Fruits – most tropical and citrus fruits, cherry (only in Sydney though), and rhubarb.

Vegetable – artichoke, asparagus, avocado, beans, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, lettuce, peas, potato, silverbeet, snow peas, spinach and sugar snap peas.

Summer

When it comes to harvest, summer yields the most for fruits especially in Brisbane, Melbourne and Tasmania.

Fruits – tropical and citrus fruits, blueberries, boysenberries, currant, gooseberry, guava, loganberry, mulberry, and tamarillo.

Vegetables – similar to the yield of spring.

Autumn

This season is an abundant time especially in Brisbane and the following are harvested in the midst of autumn:

Fruits – apples (both green and red), avocados, blueberries, coconuts, custard apple, dates, dragon fruit, figs, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, lime, mandarins, passion fruit, strawberries, and a vast variety of tropical fruits.

Vegetables – most winter vegetables, plus capsicum, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, borlotti beans and mushrooms.

Year-round harvest

There are fruits and vegetables that thrive throughout the year especially in certain regions. Among them are bananas, grapefruit (in Melbourne), red and green apple (in Brisbane), avocados (also in Brisbane), and carambola (in Brisbane).