Dave's Market Update 08.04.2014

IN FRUIT

All our Autumn fruit and vegetables are really coming good with the cooler weather. I always associate Easter with the first mandarins of the season and we are ahead of the game with these. It is also the time for chestnuts and they too are now in season and good. All the apples are underway and the only disappointment here is the Fuji which are not that good. We are yet to start the best Pink Ladies but they are quite satisfactory anyway and Granny Smith apples are quite edible, not as sour as they were a week to two ago. Quinces and pomegranates are now in full swing, all grapes are very good and my favourite pear, the Josephine has started. These are not a big pear but very sweet and slower to ripen than the Williams. I think the September Candy is still the best plum and as blueberries get quite scarce and dear, raspberries are the pick of the berries. We are at the crossover time from Shepard to Hass avocados - I think the green skinned Shepard is still the best but there are not a lot of either about and they are quite dear this week.

IN VEGETABLE

Similarly with vegetables there are lines that do not enjoy the heat of summer that are now coming into their own. Cauliflower, broccoli and broccolini are now all at their best. We have a special on broccolini this week that will make this vegetable around the same kilo price as broccoli - that’s a bargain. Leeks, cos lettuce and aniseed are excellent value. Our biggest problem remains all washed potatoes. Our growers tell me they have walked away from acre after acre of product spoilt by the heatwaves of a few weeks ago. They have told me supplies and quality of these potatoes will not return to normal until May.