Seasonal Produce Guide: What to Buy When

Eating seasonally isn't just trendy — it's the simplest way to get better-tasting produce at lower prices. When fruits and vegetables are in season locally, they're fresher, more nutritious, and significantly cheaper than their out-of-season counterparts.

Why Eat Seasonally?

• Better taste: Produce picked ripe and eaten soon tastes vastly better than produce picked unripe and shipped across the world.
• Lower prices: When supply is high, prices drop. Tomatoes in August cost a fraction of tomatoes in February.
• More nutrition: Nutrients degrade during storage and transport. Shorter farm-to-table time means more vitamins.
• Environmental impact: Less transportation and artificial growing conditions mean a smaller carbon footprint.
• Variety: Eating seasonally forces you to try new things and breaks you out of cooking ruts.

Spring (March - May)

After winter's root vegetables, spring brings tender greens and fresh flavors.

Peak Produce

• Asparagus: The quintessential spring vegetable. Roast, grill, or blanch.
• Artichokes: Steam whole or braise hearts.
• Peas: Sweet and tender. Eat raw, barely cooked, or in risotto.
• Spinach: Baby spinach for salads, mature for cooking.
• Radishes: Peppery crunch. Great raw with butter and salt.
• Rhubarb: Technically a vegetable, used like fruit. Perfect for pies and compotes.
• Strawberries: Late spring brings the first sweet berries.
• Leeks: Milder than onions, great in soups and gratins.

Spring Cooking Ideas

• Asparagus risotto with fresh peas
• Spring vegetable soup with leeks
• Strawberry rhubarb crisp
• Salads with radishes, pea shoots, and light vinaigrettes

Summer (June - August)

The abundance season. Farmer's markets overflow with options.

Peak Produce

• Tomatoes: Nothing compares to a summer tomato. Eat them raw.
• Corn: Sweet and perfect for grilling. Doesn't ship well, so summer local corn is special.
• Zucchini: So abundant it becomes a challenge to use. Grill, sauté, spiralize, or bake into bread.
• Cucumbers: Cool and refreshing for salads and pickles.
• Bell peppers: All colors, sweet and crunchy.
• Eggplant: Grill, roast, or make baba ganoush.
• Berries: Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries at their peak.
• Peaches: Juicy and perfect. Eat over the sink.
• Melons: Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew.
• Green beans: Fresh from the garden, they snap.
• Fresh herbs: Basil, cilantro, mint flourish in summer heat.

Summer Cooking Ideas

• Caprese salad with perfect tomatoes
• Grilled corn with lime and chili
• Ratatouille with summer vegetables
• Fresh peach cobbler
• Gazpacho (cold tomato soup)

Fall (September - November)

Harvest season brings hearty vegetables and fruits perfect for cooking.

Peak Produce

• Apples: Dozens of varieties, each with unique flavors. Great for eating, baking, or sauce.
• Pears: Bosc, Bartlett, Anjou — each has its uses.
• Winter squash: Butternut, acorn, delicata, spaghetti squash. Roast or purée into soup.
• Pumpkin: Not just for carving. Make pie, soup, or roasted seeds.
• Brussels sprouts: Roast until caramelized for best flavor.
• Cauliflower: Roast whole, make "steaks," or blend into soup.
• Broccoli: Cooler weather makes it sweeter.
• Grapes: Table grapes at their peak.
• Cranberries: Fresh ones appear briefly in fall.
• Sweet potatoes: Roast, mash, or bake.

Fall Cooking Ideas

• Butternut squash soup
• Apple crisp with oats and cinnamon
• Roasted Brussels sprouts with balsamic
• Stuffed acorn squash
• Pumpkin pie (from real pumpkin)

Winter (December - February)

Root vegetables and storage crops shine when little else grows.

Peak Produce

• Citrus: Oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes — this is their season.
• Root vegetables: Carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets. Sweeten after frost.
• Cabbage: Red, green, savoy. Perfect for slaws, soups, and braises.
• Kale: Frost makes it sweeter. Great for salads, chips, or sautéed.
• Leeks: Available into winter, great for soups.
• Potatoes: Storage crop that carries through winter.
• Onions: Another reliable storage crop.
• Winter greens: Collards, chard, mustard greens.

Winter Cooking Ideas

• Roasted root vegetable medley
• Citrus salad with fennel
• Braised cabbage with bacon
• Kale and white bean soup
• Potato leek soup

Year-Round Staples

Some produce is available year-round with consistent quality:

• Onions and garlic
• Carrots (though freshest in fall/winter)
• Celery
• Bananas (imported year-round)
• Avocados (imported from different regions)
• Mushrooms (commercially grown)
• Lettuce (greenhouse-grown)

Seasonal Shopping Tips

• Visit farmer's markets: Everything there is in season and local by definition.
• Check sale flyers: When produce is in season, it goes on sale.
• Look at origin: If it's from nearby, it's probably in season. If it's from Chile in July, it's not.
• Buy in bulk and preserve: Can tomatoes in summer, freeze berries, make apple sauce in fall.
• Be flexible: Let what's available guide your meals rather than forcing out-of-season ingredients.