May is upon us and things become much more interesting for me as my daily quest for fresh produce continues. For a starter the English asparagus season is upon us. Quality is really good and there is a plentiful supply that is driving down prices. Wild asparagus is also available to order but beware that it is commanding a very high price.

Jersey Royal new potatoes are now readily available and not as expensive as previous years. Cornish mids are cheaper still and make a nice alternative. Broccoli has now eased in price and cauliflowers are also great value at present. Wild garlic (Ramsons) is still available and both large and baby artichokes are at their best at the moment. Peas and broad beans from Morocco and yellow beans from France make for a colourful mix on a plate!

English salads have started so both quality and price should improve. English tomatoes are also here in earnest with some nice mixed heritage varieties readily available. Our best buy at the moment have to be courgettes really good value. Why not try the yellow ones or the courgette flower as well.

On the fruit side English strawberries and raspberries have arrived and as always are so much more flavoursome than the imported ones. Cherries from France and Spain are also here with peaches and nectarines from Egypt a real find at this time of year. Spanish melons are also beginning to trickle through although our Moroccan charentais are proving to be a particular favourite at present.

One to avoid this month is savoy cabbages expensive and of poor quality, extra fine beans are also not at their best (Peruvian fine a good alternative), purple sprouting broccoli has all but finished and most root veg especially carrots are becoming more difficult. Onions are also getting a bit tricky at the moment although the Spanish new crop has just started although their skins are not set yet. Sicilian blood oranges have now finished, we will see them again next year.

Lastly its elderflower time again, so don’t miss out on them. We have a limited supply available so pre ordering is a must.

Two bank holidays this month so remember to stock up!

If you hadn’t noticed already the summer has already come and gone and the fact that it has been one of the dullest and wettest since records began should not leave us in a state of depression as there is some wonderful fresh produce out there to cheer us up.

It used to be around the time of the September full moon that I would go wild mushroom picking with my father in the New Forest. Our mushroom of choice was the cep (or porcini to the Italians) and I have to say that they used to be of much better quality than what is reaching us at the market presently. On the other hand we do have some wonderfully clean chantarelles, girolles and pied du moutons, which are all good value.

Why not order a box of mixed loose, wild mushrooms rather than the packet ones we have for a change? The quality of the runner beans is still quite good and fears that the price of broccoli and cauliflowers would increase have proved unfounded. Our Englishsweetcorn grown in Essex are still tremendously cheap and sweet.

Just arrived are the first of the new season of golden and candy beetroot, which we just love, although they prove a lot less clean on the hands than the red varieties. Also worth trying are the early season washed red and white potatoes in 10 kg bags – they are great boiled and covered with lashings of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Recent price rises in tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers seem to have eased although aubergines remain very expensive. As an alternative to the bland Dutch greenhouse type, try the beautifully flavoured Italian pale round variety that are currently in stock.

With the heavy recent rainfalls the quality of some salads (other than watercress, which is at its best now) have been of concern. We are being very careful about where we are sourcing t especially the curly endive.

When it comes to fruit this month we need look no further than the humble apple. The early English varieties that we had been selling (discovery, worcester etc) are now making way for the more robust coxes (to be followed later by braeburns and royal gala), which will improve as the month goes on. Locally-grown conference pears are now also available. We really should make a point of buying British whist they are around; there are no better apples and pears than our own.

Nectarines, peaches and plums from the sunnier climes of Italy are still great tasting and excellent value, whereas apricots and cherries are now finished. Figs from Turkey represent the best value of all currently so indulge.

Berry prices have crept up a bit with the exception being blackberries, which are still very reasonable. Strawberries are not holding up as long at the moment due to the elsanta variety having a high water content.

Just a quick reminder too that fresh cobnuts and damsons are available but you have to be quick as the season is very short. That’s it for this month. I’m off to the New Forest to see if I can remember where my father found those mushrooms…

Welcome to the first market report on our brand spanking new website.

Many of you will know me from our old site but for those of you who are new my name is Danny. My goal is to keep you updated, more often than any other website out there on the current fruit and vegetable market conditions. Giving you the opportunity to make more informed purchasing decisions.

Wherever possible we will always try and promote local British produce, simply because it will be fresher, tastier and help reduce our carbon footprint. Lets start with locally grown corn on the cob which has just arrived in significant numbers, cheap and sweet best baked in foil with butter and loads and loads of freshly ground black pepper.

Our courgettes and aubergines from Essex, which all happen to be organic represent really good value at the moment not forgetting our scarlet red new season raw beetroot.

All the rain we have had recently has affected the price of broccoli and it would seem that the cost of cauliflowers have gone up in sympathy. Best to avoid these for a short period as there are so many cheaper alternatives around. Runner beans, broad beans, marrows and English chantenay carrots are all good value.

When it comes to salads everything looks fine especially our English radicchio, but we are still sourcing our roquette from the Veneto region of Italy. Just taste it and you will know why!!!

On the fruit side, the quality of strawberries is a bit patchy at the moment, but blackberries, blueberries and raspberries are still in good nick. English plums are also at their best now and our Italian cantaloupe melons have never been sweeter.

We do have some early English apples on the market at the moment but other than the cooking bramleys they are best left to ripen on the trees a little longer.

That’s it for the moment but keep checking our news section for all the very latest info.

They say that March is the month of expectation and I couldn’t agree more, we are so close to many mouthwatering treats but they are not quite ready yet.

There are, however, a number of intriguing new and early arrivals, not least Jersey Royal potatoes (both mids and ware) or superbly scented wild garlic (ramsons) which is available in 250g packets. Purple sprouting broccoli has also made its belated entrance and looks to be really good quality this year.

The recent frosts have made it quite difficult for our brassica growers, with shortages in cauliflower and broccoli expected to push their prices up. The recent high price of aubergines, however, has peaked and is now falling, while capsicum pepper prices remain high with green being the most expensive.

There is also upward pressure on avocados, expect them to get quite pricy this month. Root vegetables remain good value, parsnips, swedes and Jerusalem artichokes being the best bet. Potato prices are also starting to surge, which is quite normal for this time of year. Black cabbage has finished but there is plenty of spring green and hispy cabbage about. Leeks and courgettes are also great at the moment and represent good value.

Tomatoes are still coming from Spain but, nice though they look, lack flavour, unlike Sicilian cherry vine tomatoes, which are still the tastiest find. For the more adventurous, we do have some beautiful chocolate tomatoes from Syria in stock.

All salads have come down in price since last month with my favorite at the moment being the radicchio castelfranco. There is still some barba di frate around as well as sea kale to order.

English braeburn apples are still going strong but we are now sourcing our pears from further afield. Grapes are now arriving from Chile rather than South Africa, which should see prices fall, Clems are now finished and we have moved on to mandoras, which are not so easy to peel but are at least juicy. Blood oranges are also now in their prime.

We have some fantastic tasting mangoes this month, which are as cheap as chips. Plums, both red and yellow, are the best bet when it comes to stone fruit and galia and cantaloupe melons are also tasting great. Not to be missed are the Spanish strawberries this year, which are a vast improvement on last season, they are firm and red and bursting with flavour.

One of the cheapest goods on the market at present are lemons, which is just as well with Pancake Day upon us this Tuesday, 8 March. So there is no excuse not to eat as many of them possible.

Other dates to remember are 17 March, which is St Patrick’s Day, and 27 March, when the clocks go forward one hour.