Shopping list

Apricots, bananas, grapefruit, lemons, limes, loquats, pineapples, rhubarb, strawberries

Apricots from the States and Tunisia arrive toward the end of the month, but do not buy any until you find ones that are a rich deep yellow tinged with red. This is the lowest time of the year for apples but, if you must have them, decent new season imports from the southern hemisphere include Cox and Gala from New Zealand, Brazilian Gala, and Chilean Red Delicious and Granny Smiths. Look for labels or ask to be sure of places of origin. In exceptionally early years for soft fruits, Spanish nectarines and peaches, American cherries plus half a dozen varieties of melon should creep into some stores over the month. Good exotica might include mangoes from Venezuela, Mexico and Puerto Rico, and physalis.