What's in Season in February in Australia

February looks like more of January and is quietly the start of something else. Stone fruit and tomatoes are still at their peak in the south, but the first apples, pears and figs are being picked, and that is autumn arriving a month before anybody notices.

Victoria has 30 crops in season and Queensland 29.

Harvest months again, when growers are picking.

Still at their peak

Most of what was good in January is good now. In Victoria, peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and table grapes are all in a peak month, along with tomatoes, sweet corn and eggplant. New South Wales has peaches, nectarines and tomatoes at their peak.

The difference from January is quantity. With this many crops at their peak in the same weeks, late summer is when growers tend to have more than they can sell, and it is worth asking a stallholder about a tray of seconds for sauce or jam. If you preserve anything, this is the month.

The first figs, apples and pears

Figs are the February fruit. South Australia and Western Australia reach their peak, and Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland start. They bruise if you look at them, so supermarkets handle them badly and markets handle them well.

Apples start in five states at once. Pears start in Victoria and Western Australia, and nashi pears in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. None is at its peak yet.

Pomegranates begin in South Australia.

Melons

Rockmelon reaches its peak in New South Wales. Watermelon is at its peak in Queensland and still being picked in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.

Queensland in late summer

Mangoes and passionfruit are past their peak but still coming. Pineapples start, and so do lemons and green beans. Sweet potato reaches its peak.

It is the last month for Queensland lychees, though New South Wales starts its own short season now.

Goodbye to cherries

Cherries finish in Victoria and Tasmania, the last two states picking. That closes a season that began in November.

You might be thinking the shops will still have them. Fair, for a week or two. After that, anything on a shelf has come a long way.

Other endings: blueberries and apricots in New South Wales, raspberries in Victoria, and strawberries and blackberries in Tasmania. Western Australia has the longest list of anywhere, with mangoes, peaches, nectarines and plums all finishing.

What keeps and what does not

February's two new arrivals behave in opposite ways. Apples go straight into the fridge in a container or bag and keep for up to four weeks. Pears ripen uncovered on the bench and then last only two or three days in the fridge, so buy them a few at a time.

A whole watermelon keeps for up to two weeks, and three or four days once it is cut and wrapped. Rockmelon is shorter: three to five days whole once ripe, and up to three days cut, in an airtight container.

One rule saves a lot of fruit. Apples, pears, peaches, nectarines and plums all give off ethylene gas as they ripen, and watermelon is sensitive to it. Keep the melon away from the fruit bowl.

Storage times here are from the City of Darebin's food storage chart, a Victorian council guide.

March is pumpkin

Pumpkin starts in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania next month. Cabbage, leeks and parsnips return to Victoria, and Queensland starts avocados, custard apples and persimmons.

Check your own state on its page: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia or Tasmania. The season lookup covers any month, and January is the guide before this one.

Buy figs the day you plan to eat them. They do not improve on a bench.