Do you know which fruits and vegetables are in season right now? Or do you tend to choose the same ones all year round?

In our urban societies, we have lost touch with the natural seasons. We can now get apples, bananas and tomatoes all year round and we never question their availability. Yet we evolved to eat what was seasonal – and it worked.

Before winter, trees would deliver crops of vitamin-C rich food like oranges and lemons, and the ground would be full of nutritious and warming beets and sweet potatoes.

As summer hit, we will get hydrating melons and juicy berries.

Food that is in season tends to be cheaper, due to supply and demand. It is also better for the environment, because you are not flying or shipping products all the way from the other side of the world hemisphere. But most of all, it is good for your health.

Many fruits and vegetables will have overlapping growing seasons or varieties that are in season at different times. Keep an eye out for signs saying ‘local product’.

So what to eat and when?

Spring: mandarins, paw paw, apples (spring varieties), beans and peas, onions (especially spring or salad onions), bok choy and choy sum

Summer: apples (summer varieties), mangoes, pineapple, bananas, watermelon, asparagus, silverbeet, tomato, corn

Autumn: avocado, rhubarb, plums, pomegranates, brussels sprouts, eggplant, celery

Winter: kiwifruit, pear, oranges, grapefruit, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, leek, swede