As May descends upon us an excess of rainfall and cold temperatures will scupper the development of certain English produce and delayed planting out will also mean a late season.
Spanish and new season Dutch produce will help to cover a lot of options.
Fruit
Early hothouse UK strawberries will be available shortly but Dutch and Belgium varieties are excellent but a little pricey. Berries are generally good quality, Dutch redcurrants, Spanish raspberries, Mexican blackberries and South American blueberries are all available.
UK outdoor rhubarb is now plentiful along with the Wye Valley forced variety.
Melons are getting scarce with a gap between the end of the Brazilian season and the beginning of the Spanish season – watch prices!
As the month develops Spanish Stone fruit will also gather momentum apricots, nectarines and peaches towards the end of May.
Vegetables
Main crop potatoes including Piper and Wilja are still plentiful which will help the probable late starting new season potatoes. Outdoor jersey royals and Cornish new potatoes should start the new season but are still dependent on weather conditions.
Purple sprouting continues to be of excellent colour and quality look out for our offers!
English chantennay carrots, leeks and swede will also be available with red and green kales also looking good. Red and white Jerusalem artichokes are of top quality and are grown locally so are a must.
Cold storage Spanish onions will be around but will be succeeded by Chilean shortly so keep an eye on prices.
Fine beans from Kenya are excellent and with mange-tout and sugar snaps prices stabilising these should all be good bets for May.
Local asparagus should get more plentiful with purple and white varieties adding to the plate. Do look out for some excellent asparagus from Italy and Poland which will be extremely well priced as a cheaper alternative.
Italian peas and broad beans are available to pre-order; always a good sign spring is upon us.
Salad
As the Spanish salad season falls away the Dutch season has started thus presenting some beautiful produce.
Quality tomatoes of all varieties will be available with lovely bright peppers of all colours. Lettuce varieties including Cos, Gem, Lolla rosso and Oakleaf are all of quality and predominantly Spanish still.
Again we await some warmer British weather to push along our outdoor produce where as indoor produce for example English bunch radish and flat lettuce are coming through.
Locally Sourced - Available Now
- Purple Sprouting
- Red and Green Kale
- Jerusalem Artichokes
- Radish
- Rainbow Chard
- Rhubarb
- Baby Turnips
- Baby Leeks
- Beetroots – Candied, Golden and Red
- Heritage Tomatoes
- Asparagus
Please contact our Customer Services representatives on 01743 46 22 44 for our Special Offers.
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