Brisbane Market Report - 15

The seasonal gap of some fresh produce lines may be maintaining firm prices but the same cooling autumn weather has resulted in some top quality exotic fruits on the shelves.

It's the slowest time of year for vegetable harvesting with brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, celery, parsnips, snow peas, silverbeet, squash and mushrooms at firm prices for the best quality produce.

Asparagus is imported and firmly priced. Capsicums are more abundant as the Bundaberg growing region begins to harvest and are firm but expected to fall in price in the days ahead.

For the best buys, look for good quality Asian vegetables, beetroot, eggplant, fennel, leeks and zucchini. Sweet corn and beans have both dropped to a reasonable price.

In the salad lines, while retail chains are reporting a shortage of mixed leaf salads from their limited number of suppliers your local fruiterers have ample stocks at reasonable prices supplied fresh from the Brisbane Produce Market.

You will also find well priced lettuce, cucumber, eshallots and herbs for salad lovers.

Tomatoes are in a seasonal gap as the Stanthorpe growers finish their season and the North Queensland growers have yet to harvest so expect to pay firm prices. Avocados are also costly.

This is the month to explore a range of exotic and once-traditional fruits, including dragon fruit, pomegranates, rosellas, persimmons, carambola (star fruit), custard apple and its prickly cousin, soursop.

Soursop is an oval/heart shaped fruit with a leathery, inedible skin tipped with spines. On the inside it has a musky, subacid flavour with a pineapple aroma. The white flesh in a mass of white, fibrous, juicy segments that flake much like fish.  They are a great source of vitamin C.

For the less adventurous, pink lady and gala apples are the best on the shelves with other reasonably priced fruit including bananas, limes, rockmelon, watermelon, valencia oranges, passionfruit, pawpaw and early season imperial mandarins that are yet to become super sweet or puffy-skinned which usually occurs after the first cold snap.

You will pay firm prices for quality limes, new season navel oranges, end of season grapes, figs, kiwifruit, pears and passionfruit.

All berries are struggling with their quality with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries out of season and firm to expensive to buy.