Lots to report on this week as it starts to feel more like winter than the last few weeks of autumn down here in Melbourne!

Local strawberries are still floating around, but the lack of sunshine will mean they will totally phase out very soon. Small quantities of Queensland strawbs have started filtering through, but, being very early season and with heavy rains up north, they’re not quite sweet enough yet and the quality is not what it will be in the upcoming weeks.

The challenges this week are due to the extreme cold, the rains & frost…

There was a spike on Monday in the price of spinach, Lebanese cucumbers and zucchini, which is expected at this time of the year. And good quality herbs like basil will slowly get harder to find as they are easily affected by frost.

Generally, quality & price will be erratic as we transition from local to other states in price, but that should settle down once we’ve fully transitioned.

On the brighter side…

Avocadoes, bananas, corns and mandarins are all well priced. All favourites with kids so you can keep them happy with some good options for their lunch boxes and snacks.

And pumpkin is in abundance so a hearty soup is just what the doctor ordered to keep the adults happy and to ward off the chills from the freezing weather.

Have a great week,
– Joe Russo
Foodie | 3rd Generation Green Grocer