The harvest calendar
What grows when
Our patch sits in border country: hot, dry summers, and winters cold enough to frost the paddocks white from May to September. That climate writes the menu — here's the whole year, honestly.
Right now it's winter 🥦 — think frost-kissed brassicas (sprouts, cauli, purple sprouting broccoli) and winter citrus
December – February
🍅 Summer
The glut months. Heirloom tomatoes ripen faster than we can pick them, the basil goes wild, and every box smells like passata waiting to happen. Berries and stone fruit come down from the hills around us.
In the box
- ✦ Tomatoes (cherry from late Dec, heirlooms peaking Feb)
- ✦ Zucchini, cucumbers, beans
- ✦ Sweet corn (from late Jan)
- ✦ Capsicum, chilli & eggplant (building through summer)
- ✦ Salad mix grown under shadecloth
- ✦ New potatoes, beetroot, carrots
- ✦ Fresh-dug garlic & cured onions
- ✦ Basil by the bunch
- ✦ Melons (late summer)
- ✦ Cherries, apricots, peaches, berries as the hills provide
March – May
🎃 Autumn
The long golden finish. Peppers and eggplant hit their best just before the first frost (mid–late April) closes the summer garden. Pumpkins cure in the shed, the salad greens come back to life, and the hills give us apples, quinces, chestnuts and walnuts.
In the box
- ✦ Last tomatoes, capsicum & eggplant (to mid April)
- ✦ Pumpkins & winter squash (main harvest, then from the shed)
- ✦ Maincrop potatoes
- ✦ Leeks, first broccoli, kale coming on
- ✦ Salad mix & rocket at their happiest
- ✦ Asian greens: bok choy, tatsoi, mizuna
- ✦ Parsnips & turnips, sweeter after frost
- ✦ Figs, apples, pears & quinces
- ✦ Chestnuts & walnuts from up the hill
June – August
🥦 Winternow
Frost country earns its keep. Hard frosts sweeten the brassicas and roots — Brussels sprouts actually taste like they should. Boxes lean on broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale, stored pumpkins and garlic, and citrus for brightness.
In the box
- ✦ Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage
- ✦ Brussels sprouts & kohlrabi
- ✦ Kale at its peak, silverbeet, spinach
- ✦ Leeks, celery & celeriac
- ✦ Carrots, parsnips, swedes & turnips — frost-sweetened
- ✦ Stored pumpkins & potatoes
- ✦ Cured garlic & onions from the shed
- ✦ Mandarins, lemons, navel oranges
- ✦ Radicchio & winter chicories
- ✦ Coriander & parsley (they love the cold)
September – November
🌱 Spring
The trickiest, most exciting stretch. September is the 'hungry gap' — winter crops bowing out before spring sowings arrive — and then asparagus breaks the drought in late September and everything accelerates: peas, broad beans, the first strawberries, green garlic.
In the box
- ✦ Asparagus (late Sep – Nov)
- ✦ Peas, snow peas & sugar snaps
- ✦ Broad beans
- ✦ Salad greens at their absolute best
- ✦ Spring bunching radishes & turnips
- ✦ Green garlic & garlic scapes
- ✦ Artichokes (a short, precious window)
- ✦ First strawberries & rhubarb
- ✦ New-season beetroot & carrots (from Nov)
- ✦ Herbs galore: dill, chervil, coriander, chives, mint
Month by month
The year on one page
January
High summer — the garden hits its stride.
Tomatoes · Zucchini · Cucumbers · Beans · Sweet corn (late) · Capsicum & chilli · Beetroot · Carrots · Salad mix · Basil · Fresh garlic & onions · New potatoes · Berries · Stone fruit
February
Peak glut — passata season.
Tomatoes (peak) · Capsicum & chilli · Eggplant · Zucchini · Cucumbers · Sweet corn · Melons · First pumpkins · Potatoes · Basil (pesto time) · Figs (starting) · Berries · Late stone fruit
March
Long-season crops at their best; salad greens recover.
Tomatoes (slowing) · Capsicum, chilli & eggplant (peak) · Pumpkins & winter squash · Maincrop potatoes · Leeks (first) · Salad greens · Silverbeet · Apples & pears · Grapes · Figs · Chestnuts & walnuts (starting)
April
First frost mid–late month closes the summer garden.
Last tomatoes & eggplant · Pumpkins (cured) · Stored potatoes · Parsnips (first) · Leeks · Rocket & salad mix · Asian greens · Kale (first proper picks) · Spinach · Apples & quinces · Chestnuts & walnuts
May
Frosts regular; leafy greens in full swing.
Kale, silverbeet & spinach · Asian greens · Leeks · Carrots · Beetroot · Parsnips, turnips & swedes · First broccoli · Celery · Coriander · Stored pumpkins & potatoes · First citrus · Quinces
June
Brassicas take over.
Broccoli · Cauliflower (first) · Cabbage · Brussels sprouts (first) · Kohlrabi · Leeks · Frost-sweetened parsnips & carrots · Celeriac · Silverbeet & spinach · Mandarins, lemons & oranges · Stored pumpkin, potatoes, garlic & onions
July
Deep winter — growth nearly stops, flavour doesn't.
Broccoli & cauliflower · Cabbage · Brussels sprouts · Kale (peak) · Leeks · Parsnips, swedes & turnips · Celeriac · Radicchio & chicories · Winter lettuce · Citrus at peak · Rhubarb · Stored roots & pumpkin
August
this monthLate winter — the hungry gap begins.
Broccoli side-shoots & sprouting broccoli · Last Brussels sprouts · Kale & cabbage · Last leeks · Silverbeet & spinach · Asian greens · Last stored pumpkins · Stored potatoes · Citrus (still strong) · Preserves from the summer glut
September
The leanest month — then asparagus breaks the gap late Sep.
Sprouting broccoli · Kale (pre-bolt) · Silverbeet & spinach · Salad mix (accelerating) · Rocket · Spring onions · First radishes · First asparagus (late Sep) · Green garlic & scapes · Citrus (last) · Rhubarb
October
Last frosts; spring proper arrives.
Asparagus (peak) · Broad beans · First peas & snow peas · Salad greens at their best · Radishes & bunching turnips · Green garlic · First artichokes · First strawberries (late Oct) · Rhubarb · Herbs: dill, chervil, coriander, mint
November
Garlic harvest begins; first cherries in the hills.
Asparagus (final picks) · Peas & snow peas (peak) · Broad beans (peak) · Artichokes · Strawberries · Spring beetroot & carrots · New-season potatoes · Fresh 'wet' garlic · Cherries (late Nov) · Rhubarb
December
Garlic cures in the shed; summer arrives in a rush.
Fresh garlic · Zucchini · First cucumbers & beans · First cherry tomatoes (late Dec) · New potatoes · Salad mix · First basil · Last peas · Cherries (peak) · Strawberries · Raspberries & blueberries · Apricots & early peaches
An honest note
The hungry gap (August to mid-October)
Late winter to mid-spring is the pinch every honest grower in frost country knows: the winter brassicas are cut out or bolting, the stored roots are running down, and the spring sowings aren't ready yet. September is the leanest month of our year.
Here's how the boxes stay full anyway:
- ✦ The shed carries us: cured pumpkins, potatoes, garlic and onions put away in autumn.
- ✦ Standing crops bred for the gap: purple sprouting broccoli, kale, leeks and parsnips left in the ground.
- ✦ Quick greens sown under cover from August: radishes, rocket, spinach, salad mix.
- ✦ Asparagus, rhubarb and citrus — the perennials that don't care what month it is.
- ✦ The preserving shelf: passata and dried tomatoes from the February glut, pickles, quince paste, fermented krauts.