Find us
Follow us
It's a whirlwind month on the Market as traders work flat out to supply the festive surge in demand.
All the key ingredients are here, such as these cranberries, chestnuts, sprouts, tops, Piccolo parsnips and much, much more ....
The recent frosts will help to improve the quality of brassicas such as these colourful kales, purple sprouting, cauliflowers, broccoli and cabbages such as Savoy and Hispi.
Beautiful leafy celeriac below. December is also a strong month for artichokes: spikey, Petit Violet, Globe.
All the root crops are on hand - such as Jerusalem artichokes, beetroots, crosnes and chervil and parsley root.
For spicy salad crops, UK watercress or wild rocket is a good bet. Bitter leaves include all the radicchios, such as Tardivo, Rosa and Castelfranco.
There is a large range of tomatoes, too, including winter varieties such as Raf, Marinda and Camone. You will also find Piennolo hanging tomatoes, Torpedino and Vesuvio from Italy.
Citrus is in full flow. Juice and leafy clems, bergamot, kumquats (pictured below), yuzu, cedro and finger limes. At time of writing, the new flush of Amalfi lemons are still yet to reach peak colour.
Apples and pears are full season - all the later varieties now available, such as Braeburn, Cox, Comice (UK / France) and Passe Crassane (France).
Lychees are falling in price - a favourite fruit at Christmas. It's also a fine time for persimmons / kaki fruit, quince and pomegranates, which have gorgeous colour.
Other exotics include papaya, mangoes and pineapple.
It's a decent time for wild mushrooms, with late crops of chanterelle, girolle, trompette and ceps from Eastern Europe.
Speciality veg from Italy features agretti (pictured below), Caroselli cucumbers, puntarelle and cime di rapa.
There are still plenty of squashes to choose from. This is a beauty - heavy in the hand, with dense flesh.
We hope you have a fantastic festive period. See you next year for our January Market Report.
