Written by Tom Moggach
June 08, 2015

It's a dazzling time at the market, as the vibrant colours of June's fruit and veg help to wake you up in these drowsy early hours.

Below is just a taster – a chef's box packed up at The French Garden:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Selection

Or how about this – wet garlic nestling in a box of radish:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Wet Garlic

For fruit, it's Spain that's the big story at this time of year. Their growers are sending stone fruit of all kinds. Cherries and apricots are highly recommended for early June:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Cherries

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Apricots Pallet

Larger nectarines, plums, peaches (including white and flat 'donut' varieties) are not at their best quite yet.

Early melons are also here in quantity:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Melons

For soft fruit, you'll find early British raspberries and plentiful strawberries:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Raspberries

The first red gooseberries are also over from France. British crops of this fantastic fruit will be along very soon:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Red Gooseberries

Rhubarb is also worth a shout – both outdoor grown and this late forced rhubarb from the Wye Valley:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Rhubarb

Other fruit worth considering are Indian and Pakistani mangoes, back again after a ban last year, and black Spanish figs:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Alphonso Mangoes

For veg, it's obviously the first British peas and broad beans that are the big story:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Broad Beans

Note that asparagus is plentiful and reasonably priced now that it's peak season. You'll find white asparagus, too.

For more on this amazing ingredient, see our Product Profile of top growers the Chinn family:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Asparagus

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 White Asparagus

British salads are on great form – again, see our recent trip to leading salad grower Laurence J Betts.

Other veg news of note includes a wide selection of new potatoes and new season jackets:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 New Potatoes

It's a great time for Hispi cabbage, bunching onions and roots of all kinds. Kale is also available.

I can't resist a picture of this incredible purple garlic:

Fruit And Vegetable Market Report June 2015 Purple Garlic

Other specialties include foraged elderflower (pictured below), the last wild garlic, nettle tops, green almonds (also below) and a wide range of edible flowers: