Food Shopping and Storing Food Shopping & Storing 33 Spring Fruits and Vegetables to Buy at Their Peak It's the season of renewal! Here's the freshest local produce to look for at farmer's markets, plus recipes to try. By Chris Malloy Updated on March 21, 2024 Fact checked by Isaac Winter Fact checked by Isaac Winter Isaac Winter is a fact-checker and writer for Real Simple, ensuring the accuracy of content published by rigorously researching content before publication and periodically when content needs to be updated. Highlights: Helped establish a food pantry in West Garfield Park as an AmeriCorps employee at Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center. Interviewed Heartland Alliance employees for oral history project conducted by the Lake Forest College History Department. Editorial Head of Lake Forest College's literary magazine, Tusitala, for two years. Our Fact-Checking Process Close Photo: Yingko/Getty Images Spring has sprung, so it's time to celebrate! If you eat with the seasons (and even if you don't), few events on the food calendar beat the welcome return of farmer's markets and those first tender asparagus spears in spring. They signal a wonderful stretch of fresh produce to come: a months-long run through a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. In reality, that run begins as more of a walk. Spring produce comes into the season slowly—one here, one there, one delicate vegetable or allium at a time. What's available when and where varies by region, but here's a general guide to what to look for when spring fruits and vegetables arrive, plus how you can use it all. 01 of 33 Apples Getty Images We know what you're thinking, "Autumn is apple season!" You're right, of course, that their peak season is fall, but in temperate climates, apple season starts in spring. Some harvesters start picking early-season apple varieties as soon as the beginning of June. You may find other varieties in spring, such as EverCrisp, that stay crisp in storage for a long time, despite having been picked months earlier. Other spring apple varieties that hold up well to travel come from New Zealand. Try It: Microwave Baked Apples 02 of 33 Apricots Greg DuPree Many of us enjoy dried apricots and apricot preserves year-round, but there's nothing like a luscious, juicy fresh apricot in season. In California, you'll find them available from early May through July. (In other regions, mainly Washington and Utah, the apricot season lasts through the summer.) Apricots bruise easily and are highly perishable, so unless you live near their growing region, you may not find fresh ones available. Only a small percentage of the apricot harvest comes to the market fresh, so when you find them, grab them! Try it: Apricot Almond Cake 03 of 33 Artichokes Grace Elkus Depending on where you live, the mighty artichoke flashes into season for a brief moment in spring. The edible parts of this intimidating thistle include the inner stem, heart, and yellow tips at the leaf bottoms. Yes, artichokes take some work to prepare, but with experience, the ritual of trimming them can become fun. Try It: Easy Artichoke Pasta Toss 04 of 33 Asparagus Greg DuPree The arrival of asparagus marks the coming of spring produce in full force, and its season typically lasts into June. Asparagus has serious versatility, thriving in both star and supporting roles. Buy thin spears if you can, because they’re more tender and don’t require peeling, and store your bundles upright in a jar of water. Try It: Roasted Asparagus With Flax Seed-Walnut Crumble 05 of 33 Avocados Caitlin Bensel For most of us, avocados are available year-round, but they're fresher and taste better during their peak season, and that varies depending on where you live: In California, the largest U.S. producer, the season is February through September and peaks April through July.In Florida, the season runs from June to February, peaking from July to September.Hawaii has two avocado seasons: January to March, and August to November. Wherever you live, take advantage of avocado season when the healthful, creamy fruit is in tip-top shape. Stock up when prices are most reasonable and freeze some for smoothies. Try It: Summer Squash Farro Bowl 06 of 33 Bananas Grace Elkus You probably don't think of bananas as a spring fruit, and that's because they're also a summer, fall, and winter fruit. There's never a bad time (or a good time) to buy bananas because growers stagger planting seasons to make the ubiquitous tropical fruit available year-round. Try It: Healthy Banana Bread 07 of 33 Broccoli Andrew Purcell No matter what time of year is it in the U.S., it's broccoli season somewhere. California, the country's most prolific producer, grows the cruciferous veggie year-round. In spring, the best region to find locally grown broccoli in season is a horizontal swath that spans roughly from Oklahoma eastward to the Carolinas. If that's not where you live, don't worry, fresh broccoli will come your way soon. Try It: Tangy Broccoli Slaw 08 of 33 Cabbage Alison Miksch Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable, like broccoli, and a cool-season crop. It's readily available in produce sections everywhere in the U.S. all the time, but you have to live in California or the South to buy locally grown heads in the spring. Look for in-season cabbages as far north as Kansas eastward to the Carolinas. Try It: Salmon With Roasted Cabbage 09 of 33 Carrots Greg DuPree Thanks to their sturdiness and transportability, this healthy vegetable is almost always available in every state. If you're lucky enough to live in Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, California, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, or Virginia, look for freshly picked, locally grown carrots in the spring. Try It: Spiced Carrot Salad 10 of 33 Celery Greg DuPree If you live in California, where the USDA says about 80% of commercially grown celery comes from, you can find fresh, local celery stalks in just about every season. As far as in the rest of the U.S., spring sales of locally grown celery occur in the Deep South and Hawaii. Try It: Celery-Scallion Relish 11 of 33 Collard Greens Jonny Valiant Collard greens, the signature crop of the South, are members of the same family as broccoli and cabbage. A nutritional powerhouse, collards are grown extensively in the South over winter and taste best when they're "kissed by frost." That means you'll find the best-tasting, most nutritious, and lowest-priced greens in late winter and spring. Try It: Collard Greens With Bacon 12 of 33 Fava Beans Greg DuPree These broad beans in plump green pods deserve a place in the Bean Hall of Fame (if there were such a thing). Wide yet thin and almost meaty, in a way, favas are popular in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. In the States, you'll find fresh favas available in mid to late spring. They excel with little more than a blanching, steaming, or similar simple cooking method and some salt. They can also anchor more intensive preparations, like falafel. Try It: Fava Bean Falafel Pitas With Cucumber-Tomato Salad 13 of 33 Fiddleheads katyenka / Getty Images Fiddlehead ferns come on the market for a brief moment in spring. One of nature's coolest-looking vegetables, their long green stems coil almost like a butterfly’s tongue. Prized by chefs and locavores—many of whom preserve much of their bounty to prolong the season—fiddleheads must be cooked because they're toxic if eaten raw. They're usually simply steamed or sautéed and finished with butter (or oil) and salt. Try It: Sautéed Fiddleheads 14 of 33 Garlic Photography By Tonelson/Getty Images Fresh garlic is available year-round thanks to its robust storage capabilities and ability to grow everywhere in the U.S., except for the tropical parts like southern Florida and Hawaii. Garlic is planted in the fall in warmer states, and that's where to look for freshly harvested bulbs for sale in farmer's markets in the spring. Try It: Roasted-Garlic Butter 15 of 33 Herbs These days, you can likely purchase herbs year-round at the grocery store. However, they do have seasons. Herbs known as warm weather growers thrive from February through September. This includes basil, cilantro, dill, mint and lavender, among others. Try It: Tortellini Basil Salad 16 of 33 Kale Jennifer Causey Kale tastes best when grown over winter and harvested before the heat of summer (when temperatures exceed 75°F). In the U.S., kale grown in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest, and Southeast is in prime condition for harvest in the spring. Try It: Kale Chips 17 of 33 Kiwifruit Victor Protasio Many of us refer to this once-exotic little fruit as just "kiwi" but its correct name, since 1959, is "kiwifruit". With that out of the way, unless you live in California, you'll likely not have access to locally grown kiwifruit in the spring or any other time of year. Nearly 98% of the U.S. crop comes from the Golden State. The kiwifruit season in California is October through May. They harvest the fruits from October to early November, but when properly chilled, kiwifruit stay ripe and can be enjoyed through mid-spring. Try It: Kiwi-Cucumber Relish 18 of 33 Lemons Antonis Achilleos Different varieties of lemons are in season at different times of the year, which is why we find them in U.S. supermarkets all year. Most lemons in the U.S. are grown in California, Florida, and Arizona over winter, so look for them to start showing up on grocers' shelves in spring. Try It: Lemon-Pistachio Bars 19 of 33 Lettuce Antonis Achilleos Sure, you can pick up a head of iceberg or romaine any time of year, but if you find locally grown lettuce in the spring or fall, grab it! Crops grown in warmer states over winter are crisp and tender by spring, so grab some to chop, shred, and wrap to your heart's content. Try It: Pork and Peanut Lettuce Wraps 20 of 33 Limes Caitlin Bensel Yes, limes are typically available year-round and, being a tropical fruit, don't really have a season. Nevertheless, the U.S. crop of limes starts to come to market in May and lasts through October. So, for the freshest, most flavorful limes, hold off stocking up until mid-spring. Try It: Peruvian-Style Chicken Soup With Cilantro and Lime 21 of 33 Mushrooms Caitlin Bensel These days, many of us have year-round access to excellent-tasting mushrooms sprouted in climate-controlled indoor growhouses, but some truly fantastic wild mushrooms start to pop up in spring. Unless you're an expert, don’t forage them yourself, as some mushroom varieties can be highly dangerous. Instead, rely on your local market, farmer, or forager. Among the best wild mushroom varieties in spring are morels, which have a dark, earthy nuttiness. They have smooth pale stems and tall caps that look like elongated nectarine pits. Try It: Tofu and Mushroom Larb 22 of 33 Onions Jennifer Causey Onions of all colors are available year-round, but if you're looking for a sweeter, juicier onion, spring and summer are the times to buy them. The drawback is that these bulbs have thinner, lighter-colored skin and are more susceptible to bruising. In spring, you'll find locally grown onions with these characteristics in Arizona, California, Georgia, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state. Try It: Deeply Caramelized Onion Dip 23 of 33 Peas Victor Protasio In late spring, fresh green peas reappear, reminding the world how much more delicate and all-around better they are than their frozen cousins. While these versatile legumes are used in many ways, the pairing of peas and mint creates one of spring's great flavor teams. Try It: Smashed Pea and Ricotta Toasts 24 of 33 Pineapple Jennifer Causey As you probably suspected, Hawaii is the only state for commercially grown pineapples, while imports come from the Philippines, Brazil, and Costa Rica. Pineapples don’t continue to ripen after they're harvested, so it’s best to eat those produced as close as possible. Despite their tropical nature, they do have a season, and that's March through September when pineapples are their sweetest and juiciest. Try It: Shrimp Tacos With Caramelized Pineapple 25 of 33 Radishes Greg DuPree A dark horse among spring produce, radishes are versatile and affordable, and come in many forms, flavors, and colors. Farmer's market vendors often carry several varieties—French breakfast, lime, watermelon, and black radishes, to name a few—with their peppery sizzle coming through in slightly different ways. Most often slivered and served raw, a pound of radishes can go a long way, but what many don't know is that they're delicious cooked, too. When subjected to heat, their peppery notes mellow, and even the leaves are delicious cooked. Try It: Little Gems and Radishes With Ricotta Salata and Seeds 26 of 33 Ramps Getty Images The bundled, leafy ramp might be the one spring crop to rule them all. At farmer's markets, towers of ramp bunches often sell out within minutes of opening. Ramps grow wild, and the particular warm fragrance they bring—a soft fire halfway between onions and garlic—can enhance just about any savory dish. Try It: Ramp Pesto 27 of 33 Rhubarb Marcus Nilsson Rose-tinted stalks of rhubarb make their appearance at farmer's markets in mid-to-late spring. Its season is fleeting, so aficionados of these sour, mouth-puckering stalks find ways to store, preserve, and freeze rhubarb to enjoy it year-round. The arrival of fresh rhubarb on produce shelves comes as a delight to shoppers who use the tart vegetable—often paired with a sweet fruit like strawberry—to make pie, galette, bread pudding, and other baked treats. Try It: Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake 28 of 33 Sorrel Getty Images There aren’t many greens like sorrel, with its wildly tart, almost citrusy tang. Sorrel leaves bring brightness to salads so long as you counter their punch with similarly big flavors like goat cheese, spicy radishes, or fruit. Look for sorrel in late spring and early fall. Try It: Polish Sorrel Soup 29 of 33 Spinach Greg DuPree The seasons to buy spinach at its peak flavor are spring and fall. This cool-season crop starts to shut down when temperatures exceed 70°F, so you're unlikely to find it locally grown in the tropics or in the summer in all but the northernmost states. In the U.S., over half of commercially grown spinach comes from California, followed by Texas and New Jersey. Try It: Wilted Sesame Spinach 30 of 33 Strawberries Kelsey Hansen A watershed moment in the progression of spring produce is the end-of-season arrival of tiny strawberries that actually emulate berries, not the watery monsters from the supermarket. Though you can make a variety of strawberry desserts, sometimes it's best to do very little, like eat them right from the crate after a quick rinse. Try It: Honey Whole Wheat-Strawberry Clafoutis 31 of 33 Swiss Chard Victor Protasio Like spinach, chard can taste bitter when grown in hot weather, so spring and fall are the best times to enjoy chard at its peak. In spring, look for bundles of the bright-stemmed greens in Southern states where it grows over winter. Try It: Whole-Wheat Pasta With Chard and Pine Nuts 32 of 33 Turnips Greg DuPree Since turnips are grown in 49 states (sorry, Hawaii), you're likely to find them in season somewhere in the U.S. in every season. In spring, look for the freshest turnips in California and in the South, where they're grown through mild winters. Try It: Sweet and Sour Glazed Pork Chops With Turnips and Carrots 33 of 33 Watercress Quentin Bacon One of the most versatile and underrated greens out there, watercress makes its debut in late May and lasts through early summer. Similar to many beloved spring vegetables—like ramps and fiddleheads—you can also buy this one foraged. Watercress has a peppery edge and is very good raw, as a single green in a salad or part of a blend. It also holds up nicely to a sauté and can be a welcome addition to soups. Try It: Seared Tilapia With Watercress-Mango Salad Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit