The Market Note
Citrus season opens as UK summer veg ends
A read from the market floor before the week starts — and the fruit board is changing hands. Europe's last peaches and nectarines are going over, and the Mediterranean citrus season has opened: New Covent Garden has Italian Verdello lemons and the first Miyagawa clementines in now. Spain's ministry put its first 2026/27 crop at 5.74m tonnes — barely up on the year and under the five-year average after summer heat dropped fruit off the orange trees, though lemons are up a fifth. On the veg board, the home-grown summer is bowing out and winter salad is turning Spanish. Here's how we'd buy it.
Region watch
Spain & Italy
Direction: Plentifulnew-season citrus (lemons & clementines)
The Mediterranean citrus season has opened — New Covent Garden has the first Italian Verdello lemons and Miyagawa clementines in now. Spain's ministry puts its 2026/27 crop at 5.74m tonnes, 4.2% below the five-year average after summer heat thinned oranges and clementines, though lemons buck it, up 21% — lead citrus.
As of 2026/27 crop (from 1 Sept)
Source: freshplaza.com, on new-season citrus (lemons & clementines) (opens in a new tab)
Netherlands & Spain
Direction: Steadytomatoes, peppers & cucumbers
The glasshouse baton is passing south for winter: as the light drops, Dutch and UK unlit crops are ripening their last tomatoes, while Spain takes back the salad-veg supply — it shipped 42% of the EU's imported cucumbers in the first half of 2026, nine-tenths from Almería. Expect Spanish origins; flex spec.
England (fields)
Direction: Tightsweetcorn & runner beans
The home-grown summer veg is bowing out. New Covent Garden has the last of the UK runner beans and flags patchy kernel fill on some sweetcorn, after a summer too dry to swell the cobs. Check the corn, then move to Continental beans — Coco de Paimpol and borlotti are in.
In season now
- Autumn squash & pumpkins
- New-season citrus (Verdello lemons, Miyagawa clementines)
- English apples (Discovery, Windsor, Gala)
- Conference & Williams pears
- New-season roots (beetroot, carrot, parsnip)
- Wild ceps & girolles
- Turkish & French figs
- Kentish cobnuts
- Continental beans (Coco de Paimpol, borlotti)
- Late English plums
On the way out
- Late peaches & nectarines
- Last UK runner beans
- Summer courgettes (yields weakening)
- UK outdoor rhubarb
- Damsons & greengages (finishing)
In the kitchen
Verdello lemons
The Verdello is the green summer lemon — thinner-skinned and sharper than winter fruit, with more juice per lemon. Squeeze it hard over grilled fish and bitter leaves, or into a dressing while the acid's high. The skin's too thin to zest for much, so lead with the juice.
Autumn squash
Dense autumn squash wants dry heat, not water — boiling turns it to bland mush. Halve it, scoop the seeds, score the flesh and roast cut-side up with oil and a pinch of chilli until the edges catch and the middle goes silky. Leave the skin on the harder kinds like crown prince or kabocha; it softens enough to eat.
Kentish cobnuts
Fresh cobnuts are milk-sweet and nothing like a dried hazelnut — eat them young while the shells are still green. Crack and chop them raw over a salad of bitter leaves and apple, or toast lightly and fold through brown butter for pasta. Don't roast them hard; they go from creamy to dusty fast.
Worth buying
- New-season lemons & clementines — first Italian & Spanish in
- Autumn squash — full range, stores for weeks
- English apples — Discovery, Windsor, Gala
- Kentish cobnuts — fresh, green stage
- Wild ceps & girolles — Scottish, still running
Hold off
- Late peaches & nectarines — end of run
- Summer courgettes — yields weakening
- Sweetcorn (check kernel fill — patchy)
- Last UK runner beans — past best
