In an Australian spring (September to November), you'll find strawberries, cherries, avocados and citrus like grapefruit and blood orange at their best, alongside veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, silverbeet, fennel, beetroot, broad beans and mushrooms. Buying what's actually in season means fresher, cheaper, better tasting produce, and a smaller footprint on the planet.

If you spotted our Spring Produce carousel over on Instagram, welcome, you're exactly where you need to be. Consider this your full guide to produce that's fresh, in season and worth grabbing across Australia this spring!

Key Takeaways

• Spring in Australia brings a fresh lineup of fruit (strawberries, cherries, avocados, citrus) and veg (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, fennel, beetroot, broad beans).
• Seasonal produce is picked closer to its peak, so it tends to hold onto more of its vitamins and flavour.
• It's also usually the better deal, since supply is high and farmers aren't fighting the climate to grow it.
• Eating a wider variety of plants across the seasons is one of the simplest ways to support a diverse, healthy gut microbiome.
• You don't need to overhaul your whole trolley, just swapping a few things each season is progress.

What Does "In Season" Actually Mean?

I'll admit, for years "in season" was just a phrase I saw on chalkboards at the fruit shop and mostly ignored. I figured fruit and veg just... existed, all year, everywhere. Turns out that's not quite true, and once I understood why, it changed how I shop.

"In season" simply means a fruit or vegetable is being naturally harvested right now, in its ideal growing conditions, without needing extra heating, artificial light or a long-haul flight to get to you. Out of season, the same item is often grown in a heated greenhouse somewhere else, or shipped in from overseas, which is why it can have less flavour, cost more, and start looking a bit sad within days.

It works like this: as the weather warms up through spring, certain crops naturally ripen across Australian farms because that's when they get the right mix of sunlight, rainfall and temperature. Buying seasonally just means matching your shopping list to that natural rhythm instead of expecting everything, all the time.

Whether you're trying to stretch your grocery budget, eat a bit more fresh food, or simply reduce how much your weekly shop costs the planet, knowing what's in season is one of the easiest, lowest-effort places to start.

What Fruit Is in Season This Spring in Australia?

According to NSW Health's seasonal produce guide, spring is an exciting time for fruit. Here's what to look out for:

• Strawberries hit their sweet, juicy best
• Cherries start to appear towards late spring
• Avocados are plentiful and at a good price (wooohooo!)
• Apples and pears carry over nicely from the cooler months
• Grapefruit, blood orange, mandarins and Valencia oranges round out the last of the good citrus
• Lemons stay reliably in season
• Watermelon starts appearing as the weather warms up
• Pineapple, banana and papaya, which are grown in Australia's warmer, tropical regions, are widely available too

Worth noting: Australia is a big country with wildly different climates, so what's local to you might shift a little depending on where you're located. The list above is a national picture, not a rule written in stone.

What Vegetables Are in Season This Spring in Australia?

On the veggie side, spring is when things get properly green and crunchy. Look for:

• Broccoli and cauliflower, both at their peak
• Kale and silverbeet, perfect for that last stretch of soup weather
• Fennel, with its lovely aniseed crunch
• Beetroot, sweet and versatile
• Broad beans and peas, a proper spring classic
• Asparagus, one of the true stars of a spring shop
• Cabbage and Asian greens like bok choy and choy sum, crisp and versatile
• Carrots and leeks, reliable all-rounders for soups and roasts
• Tomatoes and zucchini start appearing as the weather warms up
• Garlic and mushrooms, which are grown year round but pair beautifully with everything else on this list

I try not to be precious about it. If cauliflower is having a moment and I fancy pumpkin instead, that's fine too. Progress, not perfection.

Why Does Eating Seasonally Actually Make a Difference?

This is the part I get asked about the most, because "buy seasonal" can sound like one of those vague, feel-good phrases that doesn't actually mean anything. So let's get specific.

Does Seasonal Produce Really Have More Nutrients?

Typically, yes. Produce that's harvested at its natural peak has spent longer growing in the right conditions, soaking up sunlight and nutrients from the soil. Fruit and veg picked before they're ready and ripened in transit, or stored for long stretches, can lose a meaningful amount of their vitamin content along the way. Whereas seasonal produce picked at peak ripeness and eaten soon after tends to hold onto more of its vitamins, minerals and flavour than something that's travelled a long way or sat around for weeks.

Is Seasonal Produce Actually Better for the Environment?

Mostly, but the reason might surprise you. It's less about food miles and more about how the food was grown in the first place. Growing something out of season often means relying on heated greenhouses, which use a lot of energy, or flying it in from the other side of the world. According to the European Food Information Council, growing produce out of season in a heated greenhouse can actually create a bigger carbon footprint than shipping the same, in-season crop in from somewhere it's naturally growing.

Interestingly, Our World in Data seasonality matters more for emissions than distance alone. So "local" isn't automatically the greener choice, "in season" is the bit that actually counts.

Is It Cheaper to Buy What's in Season?

Almost always. When something is in peak supply, farmers don't need to fight the weather or pay for extra heating, lighting or imports to grow it, and that saving tends to get passed on at the checkout. Which means seasonal produce is typically more budget friendly for exactly this reason. If your grocery bill has been creeping up (whose hasn't), checking what's in season before you shop is one of the easiest, zero-effort ways to save a little.

Can Eating Seasonally Support Gut Health?

This one's a bit more indirect, but it's a favourite of mine. Eating seasonally naturally pushes you toward more variety across the year, rather than eating the same five vegetables on repeat. Research has found that people who regularly ate a wider variety of plants had noticeably more diverse gut bacteria than those who stuck to a narrower rotation, and a diverse gut microbiome is linked to better overall health.

So swapping your veggies with the seasons isn't just good for your wallet. It's good for what's going on inside you too.

Spring Produce at a Glance

Produce	Type	Why It's Worth Grabbing Now
Strawberries	Fruit	Sweetest and cheapest of the year
Cherries	Fruit	Just starting to appear, grab them early
Avocados	Fruit	Plentiful, creamy, great value
Apples & pears	Fruit	Carry over from the cooler months, still great value
Grapefruit & blood orange	Fruit	Last of the good winter citrus
Mandarins & Valencia oranges	Fruit	Sweet, easy-peel citrus at its best
Lemons	Fruit	Reliable and versatile all spring
Watermelon	Fruit	Starts appearing as the weather warms up
Pineapple, banana & papaya	Fruit	Grown in Australia's warmer regions, available year-round
Broccoli & cauliflower	Vegetable	Peak flavour and lowest price
Kale & silverbeet	Vegetable	Hardy, versatile, great in almost anything
Fennel	Vegetable	A fresh, crunchy change from winter roots
Broad beans & peas	Vegetable	A true spring-only treat
Beetroot	Vegetable	Sweet, earthy, and holds up well in storage
Asparagus	Vegetable	One of spring's most anticipated vegetables
Cabbage & Asian greens (bok choy, choy sum)	Vegetable	Crisp, quick-cooking and versatile
Carrots & leeks	Vegetable	Reliable all-rounders for soups and roasts
Tomatoes & zucchini	Vegetable	Starting to appear as the weather warms up
Garlic & mushrooms	Vegetable	Grown year round, pair beautifully with the rest of the list

Where Should You Buy Your Spring Produce From?

Where you shop makes a difference too, though it doesn't have to be complicated. My favourite place to stock up in spring is our local farmers market. You'll often find produce that's been picked within days (sometimes hours) of the market opening, and a lot of small growers use spray-free or low-spray methods even if they're not certified organic, simply because it's how they've always farmed. The best part is you can actually ask the person selling it to you how it was grown, which isn't really an option at the supermarket.

That said, a farmers market isn't accessible for everyone every week, and that's completely fine. Your local greengrocer is usually pretty good at stocking what's in season, and even your regular supermarket shop counts if you're choosing the fruit and veg that's on special that week. Wherever you're shopping, the goal is the same: buy what fresh, abundant and in season, not what's been flown in from the other side of the world.

How Should You Clean Fresh Produce Before Eating It?

Wherever your spring haul comes from, it's worth giving it a proper wash before you eat it. Even spray-free and organic produce can pick up dirt, dust or bacteria on its way from the farm to your kitchen, and produce that has been sprayed benefits from a proper rinse too.

We've put together a full breakdown of how to remove pesticides from fruit and vegetables (a quick rinse under the tap isn't quite enough). It's worth a read before your next big shop.

How Can You Shop, Store and Cook With the Seasons?

At Go For Zero, we're not about ripping everything off your pantry shelf and starting again overnight. Small, doable swaps are what actually stick, and that applies just as much to your fruit bowl as it does to anything else.

1. Shop with the season, not a shopping list written out of habit.

It sounds obvious, but most of us grocery shop on autopilot, grabbing the same trolley of items every week regardless of what's actually fresh. Next time you're out, have a look at what's abundant, in season, or on special and let that nudge a couple of your choices. Over time, it becomes second nature.

2. Skip the plastic produce bags. 

Those single-use plastic bags in the fruit & veggie aisles add up fast, and they're one of the easiest things to swap out for good. A set of reusable organic cotton produce bags does exactly the same job, washes easily, and will outlast dozens of the plastic ones you'd otherwise get through.

3. Store your fresh produce properly. 

This is honestly one of the most underrated swaps, because how you store your produce affects how long it lasts, which affects how much of it ends up wasted. We use a Veggie Saver produce storage bag to help keep things like broccoli, kale and silverbeet crisp for longer in the fridge, and we've written a full guide on how to keep your vegetables fresher for longer if you want the details on how it works best.

For anything that needs wrapping rather than bagging, like half a cut avocado or cucumber, we love Honeybee's reusable vegan food wraps or their traditional beeswax wraps as a plastic-free swap for cling wrap. Both mould around whatever you're covering (even a bowl) and can be washed and reused for months.

  

4. Cook with the abundance. 

When something's in peak season, it's usually cheap and plentiful, which makes it the perfect time to batch cook, freeze portions, or preserve the extra for when it's back to being out of season and expensive again.

A Small Swap Worth Making

I love that something as simple as checking what's in season can save you money, taste better, and be a little kinder to the planet, all at once. It's not about being a perfect seasonal shopper (I still buy bananas every single week, tropical or not). It's about knowing a bit more, and letting that guide a few more of your choices.

When we know better, we do better, and that's really all this guide is about.

With love,
Ellie & the GFZ team x

Ready to Learn More?

If you're looking for more produce-specific advice, check out our other blogs below: 

🌱 Spring Into Action: Your Guide to a Fresh, Sustainable Garden, if you want to try growing some of this yourself

🍓 How to Clean Berries, for the produce that's trickiest to wash properly

🥬 The Dirty Dozen Explained, if you want to know which produce is worth prioritising organic or spray-free

Spring Produce FAQs

What fruit is in season in spring in Australia?

Strawberries, cherries, avocados, grapefruit, blood orange and lemons are all in season during an Australian spring, alongside tropical fruits like pineapple, banana and papaya from Australia's warmer growing regions.

What vegetables are in season in spring in Australia?

Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, silverbeet, fennel, beetroot and broad beans are all at their best through spring, while garlic and mushrooms, grown year round, pair beautifully alongside them.

Is it cheaper to buy fruit and vegetables in season?

Generally, yes. When produce is in peak supply, it costs less to grow and doesn't need heated greenhouses or long-distance importing, and that saving is usually passed on at the checkout.

Why is seasonal produce better for you?

Seasonal produce is typically harvested closer to its natural peak, meaning it's had less time in storage or transit to lose vitamins, minerals and flavour compared with out-of-season alternatives.

Does eating seasonally reduce your carbon footprint?

Often, yes. Out-of-season produce is frequently grown in energy-intensive heated greenhouses or flown in from overseas, both of which carry a bigger carbon footprint than in-season crops grown in their natural conditions.

If you spot our Spring Produce carousel on Instagram, drop a comment and say hi, we'd love to hear what's growing near you.