Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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The August 2013 issue of PROFECO's Revista del Consumidor, p. 21, contains two tables, which present the usual season for each of the most common fruits and vegetables grown in Mexico. Quite useful for knowing when to look for your favorites. I thought of the tables this morning after our man-in-the-street vendor advised me, as I was purchasing pitayas from him, that these fruits would soon disappear until next year. Well, pitayas are strangely enough not on the fruit listing... so add August to the end of its season. And mameys pretty much dried up in July. Fresh eggplants are due in to arrive in September... Start to say good bye to fresh pineapple. Of course, there are regional variations and regional products.

The magazine's contents are normally on line, and, of course, are in Spanish. However, the latest "Tips de Chef" feature posted is from March.

Availability dates are not to be confused with those for imported items.

Aug 22, 2013, 7:26 AM

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Re: [Aaron+] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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I am really interested in seeing this article - but I can seem to bring it to light.

This is a semi-project I have been working on for some time, especially for Puerto Vallarta. A bi-lingual poster featuring local fruits, vegetables and herbs with availability in local markets. I believe there are many tourists and locals who would like to explore new tastes and support local grown stuff. It would be win/win for everyone - including Mother Nature.

You know not too long ago the produce sections of local groceries were a sorry mess of stale and shaggy stuff. It was accepted though, and shoppers carefully picked it through. Today, with produce sourced and flown in from all over the world, there are different expectations. I am finding though, that much of the produce is from varieties which been selected for their appearance and travel - not for their taste and nutrition.

It is fun and affordable to seek out the exotic - I am still on a quest to find the elusive Mexican "Hairy" Peanut!
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YucaLandia

Aug 22, 2013, 7:43 AM

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Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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Fun stuff. Are these things that we think of as Maya/Yucateco fruits/veg, also common across the rest of Mexico?
K´oopte/Ciricotes ? Manioc/Cassava ? Chaya (both kinds) ? Cocoyam ? Sour sop/guanabana ? Chayote fruit & shoots ?

There seems to be a variation between the local groceries of Mexico's west coast/Puerto Vallarta and Yucatan peninsular groceries. We have had very nice produce in the groceries and markets that we used, as long as we have been coming here (1985). Has central Mexico also had "a sorry mess of stale and shaggy stuff" in their markets of the past, or is this peculiar to living in PV?
Happy Trails,
steve
-
Read-on MacDuff
E-visit at http://yucalandia.com

(This post was edited by YucaLandia on Aug 22, 2013, 7:48 AM)

Aug 22, 2013, 8:16 AM

Post #4 of 22 (1134 views)

Re: [YucaLandia] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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I think it's all about expectations. The old grocery stores did not really pay attention to fruit and produce - they typically buy from large wholesalers, not local farmers. Locals knew that if they wanted the fresh, seasonal stuff they would would go to the open markets, or the back of trucks. That produce is typically grown or sourced locally.

There is very little 'market farming' around Puerto Vallarta or Chapala. It is mostly huge agribusiness concerns, shipping around the world, and the output from small farms is sold locally long before it gets to the cities. Such is the case with the "hairy" peanut near Guanajuato and Leon.

I am in the process of ordering a large quantity of tropical and sub-tropical seeds from the U.K. http://www.jungleseeds.co.uk They have a lot of greenhouses and "glass" houses there. I have had trouble sourcing seeds in Mexico. I hope to share some of these seeds and 'exotics' with local farmers who desperately need the income.
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tonyburton

Aug 22, 2013, 8:20 AM

Post #5 of 22 (1128 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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I trust you have your import permits in place...

YucaLandia

Aug 22, 2013, 8:40 AM

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Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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Delightful !

Excellent push-back against US-Big Agribusiness recent practices of buying large blocks of Mexican farmland (after 18 years of $4 billion a year of US taxpayer subsidies to dump artificially cheap US corn onto Mexican markets, as mandated by NAFTA - ruining at least 7 million Mexicans on family farms).

Why has this happened?
Why are Sculptari's efforts important?

Under NAFTA mandates, US taxpayers have paid over $100 billion in subsidies to dump artificially cheap big US Agri-business products at prices far below market prices, intentionally wrecking Mexico's small family farms - creating waves of US taxpayer-created bankrupted immigrant Mexican farmers and their families crossing into the USA... So, US taxpayer dollars directly put Mexican family farms out of business, then US Big Agribusinesses snap up Mexican farm land cheap, and the taxpayers then pay yet more $ billions to fight the Narcos (who have a ready supply of volunteers from former farm family/community residents), and US taxpayers pay yet more $$ billions in border-fences, CBP, and ICE enforcement efforts - all because of the power and influence of US Big Agribusiness.

Sculptari,
Excellent push-back also against US Big Agribusiness's predatory seed practices that threaten to snuff-out local varieties across Mexico (see Monsanto v. Mexican Corn Farmers et al)

Your efforts should make a difference in ordinary people's lives (farmers and consumers)... Can I contribute?

and the Best Laugh of the Day:
What an upside down world ~ We now have to order tropical seeds ... from the UK... ~ *grin*

Well Done !
steve
-
Read-on MacDuff
E-visit at http://yucalandia.com

Aug 22, 2013, 8:41 AM

Post #7 of 22 (1116 views)

Re: [tonyburton] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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The broker in Laredo charges 20% for shipping and handling and 60 pesos for the permit. I am not ordering commercial grower quantities and the U.K. company is well established and experienced with international paperwork.

This is seeds only. Plant cuttings and live plants are much more of a problem, need phyto sanitary certificates. I was amazed how many varieties are grown from seeds, even cacti and palms.
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(This post was edited by Sculptari on Aug 22, 2013, 8:46 AM)

tonyburton

Aug 22, 2013, 8:56 AM

Post #8 of 22 (1113 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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As I anticipated, you've already got everything in place to do things properly ~ it's amazing how many people I've met think you can import seeds and plants without any restrictions or permits. [Failure to consider the impacts of exotic species is precisely why Mexico now has to cope with problems from plants such as the infamous water hyacinth.]

As your project develops, please keep us informed!

(This post was edited by tonyburton on Aug 22, 2013, 8:57 AM)

sparks

Aug 22, 2013, 10:19 AM

Post #9 of 22 (1095 views)

Re: [Aaron+] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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Here's another .... couldn't find one on Revista del Consumidor

http://www.ocu.org/...de-frutas-y-verduras

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

Aug 22, 2013, 3:02 PM

Post #10 of 22 (1053 views)

Re: [YucaLandia] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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Guanabana is readily available in any market where I've shopped, from Guadalajara to Mexico City and in between. Chayote squash is common everywhere, but the shoots are not usually seen in markets.

Anyone who believes that the people selling fruits and vegetables at any local tianguis or market grew the stuff themselves is, unfortunately, quite mistaken. 99.99% of the produce available in this type market is bought at wholesale at the nearest central de abastos and resold at market for a very small mark-up.

The reason supermarkets and most mom-n-pops often have such awful produce is that the produce is brought in only once a week or so, not every day. What you see on Tuesday (or whatever day the produce is brought into your corner abarrotes or local Soriana, Chedraui, Superama, Wal-mart, etc) is fresh and beautiful, but by week's end it's looking really, really bedraggled.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Aug 23, 2013, 8:35 AM

Post #11 of 22 (989 views)

Re: [esperanza] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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This cucamelon fruit is supposed to be from Mexico, where it is often sold pickled - but I have never seen it. It will grow year round in Lake Chapala.
http://www.verticalgardens.org/cucamelon/

I have high hopes for this one too - Korean Melon, Canary Melon - again, it should grow year round here, with shade cloth in the two hot months. The flesh holds up in stir fries, the seeds are sweet.
http://singleguychef.blogspot.mx/...n-korean-melons.html
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Aug 23, 2013, 9:23 AM

Post #12 of 22 (972 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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Those little cucamelons are just TOO cute! Thanks for posting.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Aug 24, 2013, 6:55 AM

Post #13 of 22 (914 views)

Re: [esperanza] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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In the spirit of the eclectic, not thread breaking, Mark Twain wrote "a ripe melon says punk when thumped; a green one says pink or pank.”!
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chicois8

Aug 24, 2013, 7:25 AM

Post #14 of 22 (909 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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I had some vines growing in a empty lot next to my house and it was full of the little melons from your link, I thought they were a type of squash..I am about 40 miles north of PVR.......

Aug 24, 2013, 7:54 AM

Post #15 of 22 (902 views)

Re: [chicois8] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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In Reply To

I had some vines growing in a empty lot next to my house and it was full of the little melons from your link, I thought they were a type of squash..I am about 40 miles north of PVR.......

You should pickle them, sweet or sour, your choice, and enjoying a bowl of them with an ice cold Vampiro cocktail.
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chicois8

Aug 24, 2013, 9:39 AM

Post #16 of 22 (872 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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I will try them next year, at the same time they were the another vive with tiny tomatoes were growing, they were about the size of a small marble and were in bunches like grapes, the locals picked them for salsa.......

Aug 24, 2013, 11:30 AM

Post #17 of 22 (855 views)

Re: [chicois8] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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Je Je - the tomatoes you prick the skin in a few places, soak overnight in tequila, in the fridge, serve them the next day as appetizers, you or your guests dip in Oaxaca salt. You can save the extra tequila for a cocktail.

You will makes lots of new friends giving away free booze and tasty appetizers!
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Aug 24, 2013, 1:53 PM

Post #18 of 22 (835 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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What is Oaxaca salt, please?

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Bennie García

Aug 24, 2013, 2:15 PM

Post #19 of 22 (826 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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Seeds have strict regulations on importing. Merkalink, Atravesde and other freight forwarders at the border will not send them into Mexico.

citlali

Aug 24, 2013, 7:11 PM

Post #20 of 22 (757 views)

Re: [Sculptari] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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We buy the tiny tomatoes at the mercado in San Cristobal, people use them to make salsa and they are pretty acidic not nearly as nice as cherry tomatoes and about a 4th of their size.
What do you call Oaxaca salt? The salt and chili mix they put on the mug of the mezcal "margaritas?

Aug 24, 2013, 8:39 PM

Post #21 of 22 (744 views)

Re: [citlali] Fruits and Vegetales - Seasonal Availability in Mexico

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I mean the salt that Christina often talks about. I am still using India Black Salt - which has a strong sulphur taste, but I also love astefaida,- Devils' Dung.. Gourmet salt, which often contains magnesium chrloride, if it is authentic. It is gummy, if it is authentic, and so,so good for your body and blood.

Hey - I am missing the point of my little project, my micro-revolution. Get someone you know to make those 1 gallon pickle jars full of stuff, show them to the restaurants, bars and delis where they can resell or garnish. I can help with cool labels, tees and rah, rah, rah. You never know - the next pickle King or Queen could be a rags to riches story. And I want absolutely nothing. Such is the power of seeds - remember Jack and the Beanstalk?
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Aug 24, 2013, 8:53 PM

Post #22 of 22 (735 views)