Stone and berry varieties add plentiful colour

Press, 5 December 1985, Page 41

Stone and berry varieties add plentiful colour

Christchurch markets were well stocked with a colourful variety of stone and berry fruits yesterday. A wide variety of other fruit has also become available in time for Christmas buying. Dessert peaches, cherries and plums from Hawke’s Bay and Hastings were well stocked. Peaches fetched between $lO and $l5 a tray. Cherries were of good quality and sold for up to $8 a case. The red Mehrton Heart variety sold for up to $l6 a small case. Plums fetched between $2 and $4 a kilogram. A small shipment of limes arrived from Ecuador this week. They sold for up to $lB a small case. If limes proved popular the quantities sold at the market would increase, said a market spokesperson. Island produce this week included a consignment of paw paw from Rarotonga, and bananas from Tonga and Ecuador. The paw paw was of excellent quality and sold for up to $24 a case. Tongan bananas with a delicious flavour were selling at the retail price of $1.60 a kilogram. Stocks of sub-tropical fruits also arrived from Australia this week, including mangos, rockmelons and watermelons.

The mangos fetched between $22 and $25 a tray. Colour is not necessarily an indication of the fruit’s ripeness. Look for soft fruit or buy it when firm and ripen at room temperature.

Pineapples were also selling well, fetching between $lB and $4O a case depending on the number of fruit in a case.

Californian grapefruit is now available as well as the United States Red Delicious apples. Grapefruit fetched up tb $39 a case. Australian oranges are stili well stocked.

The quality of Canterbury strawberries was improving as the season progressed, said a market spokesperson. Strawberries sold for between $9 and $l4 a tray.

Avocados were less well stocked this week, selling for up to $35 a tray. A type of pumpkin, the Gold Nugget squash, appeared at Christchurch markets for the first time this week, adding to the choice of vegetables. Squash fetched up to $lB a bag. Several vegetables were cheaper this week, including tomatoes, mushrooms, celery, and radishes. Mushrooms were plentifully stocked, fetching between $8 and $l3 a tray.

Tomatoes were still of good quality, fetching between $5 and $8 for a 4.5 kg case.

Mushrooms and tomatoes tended to come down in price when there was a greater variety of vegetables for the consumer to choose from, said a market spokesperson. North Island celery dropped in price to $l4 a case this week. This could result in celery becoming scarce if North Island growers hesitate to send

produce south. Canterbury celery is in short supply. Good quantities of Canterbury new season’s potatoes are now available.

Spring carrots fetched up to $8 a case, and up to $2O a bag. Spring cabbages are cheap and over-supplied. They have an excellent flavour and are ideal when boiled quickly, or fried in butter. Lettuces fetched between $1.50 and $3 a case.

Some stocks of early season’s marrow fetched up to $l4 a case.

Canterbury-supplied cauliflowers were of above average quality, selling for $4 a bag.

Asparagus lovers only have about two weeks left to stock up on supplies before the season finishes. There is still good-quality produce available. This week, asparagus sold for between $2.50 and $3 a kilogram. The quality of the broccoli varied yesterday and was reflected in the prices of between $4.50 and $6 a half case.

Supplies of spring beetroot were delicately flavoured and fetched up to $6 a case. Bunched red onions were popular, fetching up to $9.80 a case.

Supplies of hothouse grown beans from the Horotane Valley sold for up to $8 a small case.

Aubergines and peppers were also well stocked at this week’s markets. Some of the most economical buys this Christmas should be cabbages, mushrooms, tomatoes, tangelos and New Zealand grapefruit, which are cheap and plentiful. Apricots and nectarines should also be better stocked next week in time for Christmas.