What Produce is in Season in April
Posted by OXO Australia on 22nd Mar 2022
You can buy most vegetables year-round, but if you shop for produce that's actually in season, you're guaranteed better flavours.
You can taste (and smell) the difference when fresh fruits and vegetables are picked during their peak season - just try a strawberry in the summer and compare it to one in the winter. They're bright red, sweet and juicy in the summer and just not the same in the winter.
What to Look for When Shopping Seasonally
The most important characteristic to take note of when shopping for fresh produce is fragrance: if it doesn't have a strong smell, it's not ready to eat, and if it has a foul smell, there's a good chance it's over-ripened or moudly.
While you're taking a whiff, also check how the produce feels. If it's rock hard, you know you'll have to wait a few days for it to ripen. Fruit, such as peaches and pears, should give a little to presure, so wait an extra day or two before eating them. Produce should also feel heavy for its size - this meals it's full of juices and hasn't started to dehydrate.
April Produce in Season:
Fruits
Apples
Bananas
Custard Apples
Kiwifruit
Limes
Nashi
Pears
Passionfruit
Pomegranates
Persimmons
Quinces
Rockmelon
Vegetables
Beetroot
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbages
Capsicums
Fennel
Leeks
Mushrooms
Okra
Peas
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Silverbeet
Spinach
Sweet Potato
Turnip
How to Use All Parts of Your Produce
Take Advantage of fresh produce and cut back on waste by finding ways to use the scraps. We're talking about the leaves, cores, and stalks that usually end up in the trash or compost bins. Here are a few ideas for using your produce scraps.
Good Tip: Before using the tops of root vegetables, make sure they're thoroughly washed. Place them in a deep bowl of water and swish them around. Let them float to the top, and the dirt should sink to the bottom. Spin dry and store them in the refreigerator until ready for use.
Smoothies
One of our favourite ways to use fruits and vegetables is in smoothies. They're great for making ahead of time and taking on-the-go. Adding vegetable scraps like carrot and beet tops gives you that daily dose of greens, and will add some flavour to whatever else you blend.
Lately, we've been into starting our monrings with a green grapefuit juice. It packs in swiss chard (use the stems) + spinach + grapefruit + pear + ginger.
Stocks/Soups
Homemade stocks and soups are another great way to squeeze out the flavours of produce scraps. Store the green part of leeks, the core of cauliflower or cabbage, the stem on brocolli and the green tops of carrots in the freezer. Then cook them down in water for a few hours (we suggest around 3 cups of vegetable scraps to 8 cups of water) and you have a vegetable stock that didn't come from a box.
Spiralizing
Instead of tossing out your brocolli or cauliflower stalks, we like Spiralizing them. Brocolli stems can be used in slaws or stir frys, or a whole head of cauliflower can be spiralized as "rice". (Bonus: Keep those cauliflower and brocolli leaves to stir into a dish at the end and let them wilt just like spinach or kale).
You can buy most vegetables year-round, but if you shop for produce that's actually in season, you're guaranteed better flavours.
You can taste (and smell) the difference when fresh fruits and vegetables are picked during their peak season - just try a strawberry in the summer and compare it to one in the winter. They're bright red, sweet and juicy in the summer and just not the same in the winter.
What to Look for When Shopping Seasonally
The most important characteristic to take note of when shopping for fresh produce is fragrance: if it doesn't have a strong smell, it's not ready to eat, and if it has a foul smell, there's a good chance it's over-ripened or moudly.
While you're taking a whiff, also check how the produce feels. If it's rock hard, you know you'll have to wait a few days for it to ripen. Fruit, such as peaches and pears, should give a little to presure, so wait an extra day or two before eating them. Produce should also feel heavy for its size - this meals it's full of juices and hasn't started to dehydrate.
April Produce in Season:
Fruits
Apples
Bananas
Custard Apples
Kiwifruit
Limes
Nashi
Pears
Passionfruit
Pomegranates
Persimmons
Quinces
Rockmelon
Vegetables
Beetroot
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbages
Capsicums
Fennel
Leeks
Mushrooms
Okra
Peas
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Silverbeet
Spinach
Sweet Potato
Turnip
How to Use All Parts of Your Produce
Take Advantage of fresh produce and cut back on waste by finding ways to use the scraps. We're talking about the leaves, cores, and stalks that usually end up in the trash or compost bins. Here are a few ideas for using your produce scraps.
Good Tip: Before using the tops of root vegetables, make sure they're thoroughly washed. Place them in a deep bowl of water and swish them around. Let them float to the top, and the dirt should sink to the bottom. Spin dry and store them in the refreigerator until ready for use.
Smoothies
One of our favourite ways to use fruits and vegetables is in smoothies. They're great for making ahead of time and taking on-the-go. Adding vegetable scraps like carrot and beet tops gives you that daily dose of greens, and will add some flavour to whatever else you blend.
Lately, we've been into starting our monrings with a green grapefuit juice. It packs in swiss chard (use the stems) + spinach + grapefruit + pear + ginger.
Stocks/Soups
Homemade stocks and soups are another great way to squeeze out the flavours of produce scraps. Store the green part of leeks, the core of cauliflower or cabbage, the stem on brocolli and the green tops of carrots in the freezer. Then cook them down in water for a few hours (we suggest around 3 cups of vegetable scraps to 8 cups of water) and you have a vegetable stock that didn't come from a box.
Spiralizing
Instead of tossing out your brocolli or cauliflower stalks, we like Spiralizing them. Brocolli stems can be used in slaws or stir frys, or a whole head of cauliflower can be spiralized as "rice". (Bonus: Keep those cauliflower and brocolli leaves to stir into a dish at the end and let them wilt just like spinach or kale).