Explore Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables in Europe | Hacker News Reader

Explore Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables in Europe

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I am irrationally angry that they chose a palm tree as the icon to represent the Mediterranean climate region on the map, when it is absolutely not characteristic to this climate. A much better option would have been an olive or an evergreen oak (Quercus ilex): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_ilex

There are plenty of palm trees in the iberian penisula.

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardim_do_Rossio#/media/Fichei...

https://olhares.com/largo-das-palmeiras-foto3262.html

https://www.pxfuel.com/pt/free-photo-eiuzw

Sure, none of them native though.

Well, tomatos, potatos and chilli are also not native to Europe, maybe we should remove them from our gastronomy.

I think the point is that they should choose a tree that's representative of the native habitat.

Which is my point as well, from which century are we counting as being the native habitat?

Let's put it this way. Just because we have zoos doesn't make those animals native. There is probably some threshold of self sustainance and propagation in the region to call it native, after many centuries I would presume.

More to read here :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_species

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?!

The GP may or not be suggesting that, but coconuts do migrate. Their physical structure enables that: a sealed capsule that can float, with rich nutrient density inside, and airtight, so due to all that, stays viable while it is carried across oceans from one country to another. And germinates and grows at the destination. Read something to that effect somewhere, maybe in Wikipedia or similar.

Winds and tides and ocean currents and waves do the rest.

The plants that developed seed dispersal in micronesia are fascinating. It's a tough evolutionary nut to crack. Honestly though, I was making a holy grail joke ;^)

All of nature and natural mechanisms are fascinating. So much of math and science and beauty in it, as scientists and the lay public keep discovering. Just today, sitting at a cafe outside a town, I saw something new to me: a small frog, just about one inch in length, sitting vertically on the low side wall of the cafe. I think it was actually climbing up the wall. At first I thought it was a large insect. Then went closer and saw it was a frog. Took a photo of it.

Edit: If I can, I will post a link to that photo here. (Have some constraints for that at present.)

I didn't get the holy grail joke. Googling seems to show it is related to Monty Python shows, which I do not watch, Guido knows why :)

Some of they definitely are. One of the most famous, Phoenix canariensis is endemic from Spanish Islands. The Mediterranean has also several native palms, and even ecosystems when palms are one of the dominant species. Chamaerops humilis, the palmito, is a small palm. Is a 100% legit European palm (and a fairly decent vegetable also that could fit perfectly in this list).

> A much better option would have been an olive [...]

Ironically, olives seem to be missing from Spain's and Greece's list of fruits.

That's because they are served cured and fermented and never fresh. So there's no season for them.

I see, that makes sense.

Is included as a vegetable here

There are plenty palm trees near the Alps, so I wouldn't be angry if I were you.

But indeed I would have picked an oak or olive, it's culturally and historically more appropriate.

For many northern Europeans, Southern Europe is pretty much the same as Africa. With all the same prejudice included. It is what it is.

I'm Portuguese (Southern European) and cannot possibly understand this comment ..

What do you care what others think?

What matters is that (at least my country) has reached a level of cultural and technological development that cannot be compared to what it was 20-30 years ago.

And I don't think the well educated younger generations share your silly inferiority complex too ..

As a Northern European, it's such a shame to see this attitude spread in Southern Europe. You see it a lot on /r/europe these days, this idea that people in Northern Europe are biased against people from the South.

Us Southern and Eastern Europeans constantly experience prejudice from Northern and Western Europeans. It’s especially noticeable if you’re an immigrant.

It’s not an attitude, merely an observation.

Tribalism: https://youtu.be/7y-b7f6CK2M

North Tribe vs South Tribe

White vs Black

Democratic vs Republicans

etc :)

We definitely have an African component in our flora, yes. This makes our ecosystems (and our kitchen) special and our nature much more interesting with lots of African endemisms. Spain is (probably [1]) the European country with a higher biodiversity. Italy comes close in that rank also.

[1] excluding Russia, that is a special case (being Asian and European at the same time).

I also come from the south of the mediteranean (probably more south than you :) ) and I couldn't care less :)

And yes, we do produce tons of olive oil that the Italians or Spanish buy and sell as their own oil. The truth is that it can get quite hot from this side of europe :)

Just out of curiosity, where are you from?

Where I live (south of Europe) you can tell very easily what fruit or vegetables are in season:

1. They taste orders of magnitude better compared to when they are not in season (e.g. oranges when sourced from nearby Greece or Turkey, as opposed to ones shipped all the way from South Africa or Australia)

2. They are much cheaper to buy on local fruit and vegetable stands. Also, big chains like Lidl or Kaufland run good sales on them as well.

I'm pretty impressed they have Jujube[0] but sad they don't have one of my favourite weird fruits, strawberry tree[1].

I wonder if no-one is actually growing them commercially.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus_unedo

There is a strawberry tree not far from here and I find the species name very apt: unedo in Latin means "you only eat one".

that sounds ominous?

Is for the alcohol included in the fruit. You can get drunk if you eat a lot of those. They are mainly used for home made liquor.

The "strawberry tree", is relatively common in Spain, where is called Madroño. You can find them in gardens or house patios as decoration, as their fruits get very colorful.

While I don't remember finding the fruits on the market (probably because they ripen and ferment quickly), I've taken the fruits directly from the tree, and there are liquors and jams you can find in the market.

As a curiosity, the coat of arms of Madrid has a bear and a straberry tree. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Madrid )

Oh I always thought that was an apple tree!

Kind of depressing how little we can grow in the Uk that I like to eat.

Ah well, it’s not like we just put up any massive barriers between the Uk and European trade...

Is this really accurate? Are they counting green houses?

Because this tool says Sweden harvests Avocados, blood oranges and grapes in winter.

I live in the southern most part of Sweden and I can honestly say I never saw a grape grow in winter.

They have apples and pears in every month in Poland :) I mean sure - you can keep apples and pears through the winter but they aren't fresh so does it count? Or maybe they mean greenhouses but then you might as well add oranges and lemons.

But for other fruits it was pretty accurate in Poland.

More importantly I don't see how it helps with "more sustainable diet"? Just go to a local grocery market and buy whatever they have there.

According to the FAO, no: http://www.fao.org/faostat/

I'm sure grape production would work in southern Sweden, but I assume it'd be restricted to the summer months. :D

In Almería (Spain) there are harvests all around the year. Take a look at the "plastic sea" of greenhouses:

https://www.google.es/maps/@36.7933578,-2.4678147,92135m/dat...

Exports cover all Europe.

Edit: in case you don't know, it's a desertic climate. Commonplace is "Sahara desert crossing the sea northwards". Most "Spaghetti Westerns" were filmed in the area.

In Canada, they make ice wine from grapes that are harvested in winter when they are frozen solid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_wine

Cool! In Spain we have a (IMO) much easier to use site: https://soydetemporada.es

On the subject of sustainability, I'd always heard the story of eating local, presumably to avoid the environmental impact of transporting food over long distances.

It seems that that's insignificant compared to the type of food we eat:

https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#whe...

> Shipping one kilogram of avocados from Mexico to the United Kingdom would generate 0.21kg CO2eq in transport emissions. This is only around 8% of avocados’ total footprint. Even when shipped at great distances, its emissions are much less than locally-produced animal products.

UI Fail -- the Reset button was for me in the habitual place of a Submit button, so I pressed it after making my selections. More problematic on phone when you cannot see the filter results before you fill it out and scroll down.

Avocado, banana and kiwi in France in April? This looks broken as hell.

Mostly Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Kiwi are grown in metropolitan France, they're available for most of the winter and spring. Bananas are likely from the West Indies (which makes them from France but not from Europe) and avocado... no idea, I don't really consume this.

To be honest, judging from their illustration of an avocado, the authors have never seen an avocado either.

Seems exaggerated for sure, but I guess that could be artistic choice? Avocados in Brazil for example are bigger and with a longer top [1]

[1] https://st4.depositphotos.com/1023249/25027/i/600/depositpho...

Why do fruits have such dramatically different seasons?

It makes sense to me that some fruits only fruit in summer when there is enough energy, and some that require less energy fruit all year round (e.g. apples).

But why does citrus only fruit in the winter? Maybe it exploiting the fact that there aren’t any other fruits at that time, so hungry cold animals will eat them at a greater rate than if they were competing with all the other summer fruits?

Energy is only one driving factor. In the case of citrus, water availability is likely the dominant one. They grow their fruit in the wetter season.

I find cherries quite interesting - how they'll have their blossoms out before most trees have even gotten their leaves back after winter.

France > Spring > April > Fruits: Apple Banana Avocado

Ok......

Do French Guiana, Martinique or New Caledonia count as "France"?

Legally, most of France's ex-colonies that haven't become independent are just bits of France these days (making it different from, say, the UK, where the rump former colonies usually have special legal status).

They are also part of the EU, which wasn‘t the case in the British colonies when the UK was still part of the EU.

Funny to think that there's a land border between Brazil and the EU.

The site is "Explore Seasonal Fruit and Vegetables in Europe". Not "European Union". A map of Europe is shown. And there is no mention of tropical climate. So we must assume they mean metropolitan France and I can assure you that no banana or avocado grows there.

And even if they were talking about the whole territory of France, nowhere on this territory there are Apples being harvested right now.

They don't grow in the European part but it's true, bananas from the French West Indies are well-known here.

The idea is great but IMO the execution can be improved, geolocate and use the current date to avoid 2 drop downs

They didn't include Romania :(

I was curious of that too. Or for Ukraine.

The best soil in Europe is located west-north of the Black sea, Ukraine/Romania.

I can tell for Romania: except the mountains, Romania s soil is extremely fertile, the black soil Chernozem.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernozem

yes I came to comment exactly this, Romania is always up in the ranks of fruits and vegetables exports, it should be included.

I doubt the accuracy of some of these. Bell peppers in season in the UK in March?

No fruits in Latvia nor Lithuania? And what happened to Norway?

Select some summer month and they will appear.

The list of fruits is really incomplete. I hope this is a WIP.

anyone know of anything like this for Canada? Specifically Ontario.

How about: https://www.ontario.ca/foodland/page/availability-guide

I knew to look for it because where we live, the state (North Carolina) publishes a fruit/vegetable availability chart (http://www.ncagr.gov/markets/availabilitychart.pdf), and I think many governments do. We hang up a copy of the chart in the kitchen so we can know what to look for at the farmer's market and plan accordingly.

Croatia is missing.

So is Romania. They mention the lack of sources as a reason for a missing country, so that might be it.

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