The long hot, and sometimes wet summer has kept the price of herbs and green leafy vegetables firm but there is still plenty of fresh produce to choose from as families return to their back to school routines.
In the vegetable aisle, look for bargains on quality cabbage, celery, zucchinis and potatoes with supplies into the Brisbane Produce Market the best for some months.
Asian vegetables, beans, beetroot, capsicum, carrot, eggplant, leeks, onions and pumpkin are good quality and value-for-money. Sweet corn has fluctuated in quality and price in recent weeks and is eating well at a reasonable price.
It's the end of the Australian asparagus season with top dollar being paid for local and imported stock.
Salad lovers will struggle to find bargains on tomatoes or lettuce, both being firmly priced along with avocados, with the shepard variety late, leaving a gap where New Zealand supplies of the popular hass variety can't keep up with the demand.
Spinach is harder to source but you will still find reasonably priced mixed leaf salad, cucumbers and eshallots.
The heat has affected herb stocks with good quality coriander, continental parsley and dill hard to find and expensive but the remaining varieties are reasonably priced.
The best buys for school lunch boxes and snacks are cut watermelon and pineapples at bargain prices along with juicy peaches. Otherwise, look to value-for-money bananas, grapes, figs, kiwifruit, apricots and plums or cut up some rockmelon.
Some fruits are already firmly priced and expected to rise further including apples and navel oranges. Other firmly priced fruit includes all berries, valencia oranges, honey dew, lychees and nectarines.
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