Fruits That Grow All Year Round

There are several fruits that grow all year round and ones that grow in specific seasons. Fresh fruits are delicious and great for our bodies. They can also be expensive, especially during seasons when the weather is hot and fruits like watermelons and peaches need extra care to grow. In this article, I will be talking about all of them and you can choose which one you want to start growing in your back yard.

7 GLORIOUS FRUITS THAT ARE AVAILABLE ALL YEAR ROUND

Fresh produce is the perfect choice for getting a wide range of nutrients, including vitamins A and C, potassium, fiber and iron, so finding fruits that are available all year round makes it simple to include a variety in your diet. Fruits are also the ideal source of antioxidants, which protect you from free radical damage that leads to many diseases, including heart disease and cancer. Check out these fruits that are available all year round and get started making healthy choices today.

1. APPLES

One of the most common fruits that are available all year round are apples. Most supermarkets offer an array of types and colors during all the months of the year. You may not always be able to find the same type, Gala, for example, but there will always be several on the shelves. To top it off, apples are super affordable too. Eat one plain, or chop an apple and add it to oatmeal or a salad.

2. BANANAS

Bananas are one of the cheapest fruits out there and they’re never missing from store shelves. No matter the temperature outside, you can always find a sweet, delicious bunch of bananas at the grocery store. A banana makes the perfect on-the-go snack for kids and adults. I like to cut mine the long way and spread a bit of peanut butter inside. Bananas are also perfect for smoothies. 

3. GRAPES

They fluctuate in price during the course of the year, but grapes are pretty much always easy to find. These juicy little orbs are perfect for a fruit salad or to munch on while you clean house or play with the kids. Grapes are also ideal for a lunchbox. They’ll fill you up with very few calories and they taste great no matter when you eat them.

4. KIWIS

What could be better than a tropical tasting treat when it’s frigid outside? Look no further than a couple of kiwis. They’re cheap and they taste wonderful. I cut the top off and scoop out the delicious green flesh with a spoon. Kiwis also taste great in a fruit salad, on cereal or in a berry smoothie. Some people eat the skin too, which increases your fiber intake.

5. ORANGES

Sometimes it’s navel oranges and sometimes you can find clementines, but there’s always some type of orange at the supermarket. No matter which type you buy, you’ll get a load of vitamin C and fiber in each one. Use fresh oranges to make juice, eat one for a snack or toss them into a pineapple and banana smoothie. Orange juice is also a delicious base for homemade salad dressing or meat marinades. You just can’t go wrong!

6. MELONS

Again, it won’t always be the same type of melon, but there is usually at least one type available. The most common are watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. In fact, I think I can always get a watermelon when I want one. Melons are perfect for a smoothie, but they also taste great cubed and drizzled with lime juice as a side dish for breakfast or lunch. Melon also makes the perfect dessert any night of the week.

7. AVOCADOS

Yep, they’re fruit – though many people lump them into the vegetable category. Avocados are creamy and delicious and I love being able to eat one any month of the year. I usually serve cubed avocados with tacos, burritos and tortilla soup, but my kids also love them as a side dish for lunch on the weekends. Of course, you can’t go wrong making fresh guacamole either.

What’s your favorite fruit? Can you get it all year? I hope this list inspires you to include more fruit in your diet.

WHAT’S IN SEASON ALL YEAR ROUND

If you are the experimental type, you can have a lot of fun by focusing on in-season produce. In North America, certain fruits and vegetables aren’t in season year-round. You’ll need to wait until the appropriate season for other produce, but your local farmers market should have plenty of tasty, seasonal organic food to keep the kitchen adventures going.

YEAR-ROUND

The group Fruits & Veggies-More Matters has a comprehensive website listing seasonal produce. Fortunately, quite a few (more than a few, really!) goodies are listed for year-round pleasure. They include:

• Apples
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Lemons
• Snow peas
• Coconut
• Banana squash
• Bananas

If a fruit is out of season in your part of the country, it is likely in season elsewhere in the United States. For instance, in California, apples are in season from approximately July to November.

The sheer diversity of the United States means that some produce is in season in different parts of the country at different times. California is a good guideline for the rest of this article. After all, this state tops the list for agricultural production. Of course, factors such as weather can, at times, push the seasonality of produce a month forward or backward. The following list is divided into months, but many of the fruits and vegetables are in season for at least a month or two on both sides of the listed month.

WINTER

It may seem like nothing grows in the winter, but that’s absolutely not true. Some seasonal produce thrives in the winter time, such as dark and leafy kale or asparagus. Enjoy winter produce by incorporating it into hearty soups and stews, flavorful casseroles or comforting desserts.

NOVEMBER

• Apples
• Asparagus
• Green beans
• Carrots
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Grapefruits
• Grapes
• Mushrooms
• Yams

DECEMBER

• Beets
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Dry onions
• Green onions
• Guava
• Kale
• Kiwis
• Pineapples
• Summer squash
• Valencia oranges
• Winter squash

JANUARY

• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Cabbage
• Green peas
• Mustard
• Navel oranges
• Strawberries
• Passion fruit

FEBRUARY

• Avocados
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Celery
• Collards
• Kumquats
• Lemons
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Turnips
• Tangelos
• Tangerines

SPRING

With the start of spring, the amount of produce in season begins to expand. We shed some of those comforting dishes of fall and winter, and opt for meals that are fresher and brighter. Think buddha bowls, colorful stir fries and yummy granola parfaits.

MARCH

• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Blood Oranges
• Chard
• Grapefruits
• Green onions
• Medjool dates
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Turnips

APRIL

• Basil
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Cherries
• Cucumber
• Lettuce
• Mushrooms
• Nectarines
• Passion fruit
• Raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Tomatoes
• Turnips

MAY

• Apricots
• Asian pears
• Beets
• Black-eyed peas
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Corn
• Dry onions
• Eggplant
• Figs
• Okra
• Peaches
• Plums
• Potatoes
• Raspberries
• Summer squash

SUMMER

Summer is often the major harvest season. Fruits are plenty and the heat can influence what we cook or make in the kitchen. To keep temperatures in your home cool, opt for nutritious green breakfast smoothies or overnight oats, hearty salads or other raw plant-based dishes. Don’t forget to fire up the grill and head to the park or beach for some good food and good times.

Grow These 12 Fruits for a Year Round Supply

Growing Fruit at Home Is Not as Tricky as You Might Think.

We all know that fruits have a lot of health benefits, but growing them at home provides many advantages.

Not only you are assured of a constant supply of fresh fruits, but tending to them right in your own backyard also adds physical activity to your daily routine. In addition, growing them yourself will give you more control over which fertilizers and pesticides will be applied – or not applied – to these fruits.

However, a lot of homeowners find growing fruits intimidating. They believe that it requires too much attention, time, and space. The fact is that growing fruit at home is not as tricky as everyone might think.

The guide below shows you 12 different fruit plants and trees that can be grown in your backyard garden all year round. As long as they are established, these fruits should be very easy to maintain and will provide a supply of fruits all throughout the year.

Certain fruit plants and trees such as avocados, apples, peaches and bananas will require a full sun. But, there are also others such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and elderberries that are best grown under a bit of shade.

Some plants only produce fruits on certain seasons but they can generally survive regardless if the weather is hot or cold. One just has to make sure that they are well prepared for the coming change of season.

Now, not everyone has the privilege of having huge backyards and can only tend to small gardens. Fortunately, it is still possible to grow fruits even in a limited space.

Not quite convinced? A few options for people who have tiny gardens would be growing fruits in containers, going for dwarf trees, making use of vertical space and more. Pruning is also recommended as it makes the trees and plants more manageable and also encourages them to produce more.

If you are already itching to grow fruits right in your own backyard, you should find the infographic below to be extremely helpful. You can check out their sun, soil and climate requirements, hardiness zones and even how long you can keep their fruits in the refrigerator or freezer.

How to grow fruit all year round

I threw the rest of our nectarines out of the fridge last night. They’d been the most gorgeous I’d ever eaten; creamy-orange fresh, both tart and sweet as well as perfumed — the perfect nectarine. Then I went for a week’s dog-sitting duty (he had an injured paw) and came back to find the nectarines still red-flushed and beautiful. Then I bit into one. Yuck.

They hadn’t gone off or become mouldy. They just didn’t taste like fresh, sun-ripened fruits of paradise. And as we had other fruits of Eden ripening in the orchard, these went to the chooks. When kids say they don’t like fruit, I suspect it’s because the fruit they have eaten is woolly, floury and pretty tasteless, as is so much commercial fruit we buy, unless it’s from a farmers’ market.

Cold storage preserves fruit’s appearance. But the longer it’s stored (except in a very few cases, like Sturmer Pippin apples and most varieties of quinces), the flavour is either slowly lost or changes and the texture changes, too. I have yet to eat a good store-bought apricot. I once thought they were all picked too green, were perhaps varieties bred for looks not taste and that may be part of it. But, basically, cold-stored fruit — in your fridge or a commercial cool room — slowly or even quickly loses its magic.

So here is a list of fruit trees for each month of the year. Grow these and swap with neighbours and head to farmers’ markets, then perhaps you’ll discover that fruit really is the food of paradise — luscious, juice-dripping with a scent that can make a bowerbird sing.

So what can you plant to have at least some luscious fruit all year? (Note: fruiting times will vary slightly from area to area; at least one of the fruits below will be suitable for your area, be it freeze your socks off or tropical.)

January: Capulin cherries, blueberries, plums, plumcotts, late apricots, pawpaws, lemons, lychees, strawberries and all the brambleberries, peaches, nectarines, plums.

February: Apples, figs, blueberries, jackfruit, jaboticoba, guava, pepinos, lychees, nashi, pears, rockmelons and watermelons, more berries.

March: Apples, olives, avocadoes, custard apples, lychees, brambleberries, early quinces, early persimmons, pears, melons, grapes, strawberries and brambleberries.

April: Pomegranates, medlars, pears, Valencia oranges, lemons, early limes, olives, late figs, quinces, Granny Smith and other “medium late” apples, passionfruit, tamarillos, late grapes, chestnuts, walnuts, persimmons, grapefruit, guavas, feijoas, strawberry guavas, carob, chestnuts, Brazilian cherries, pomegranates, guavas, jackfruit, early calamondins, lillypillies, kerriberries, late strawberries, raspberries, bananas, avocadoes, Irish strawberry-tree fruit, melons, pistachios and pecans.

May: Figs, early mandarins, limes, pomegranates, late apples, late Valencia or early Navel oranges, tangelos, citrons, kumquats, tamarillos, early kiwifruit, late passionfruit high up on the vine, late raspberries, late strawberries if grown on a high garden away from early frost, olives, persimmons if the birds haven’t finished them, feijoa, bananas, medlars.

June: Apples (Lady Williams, Sturmer Pippin, French Crab), feijoa, Navel oranges, kiwifruit, limes, mandarins, citrons, grapefruit, bananas, avocadoes, late passionfruit high on the vine, banana passionfruit, guava, strawberry guava, pomegranates if the birds haven’t eaten them, lillypillies in warm areas, citrons, medlars, olives, late tamarillos above the frost, winter rhubarb.

July: Apples (Lady Williams, Sturmer Pippin, French Crab), feijoa, Navel oranges, kiwifruit, limes, mandarins, citrons, grapefruit, bananas, avocadoes, late passionfruit high on the vine, banana passionfruit, guava, strawberry guava, pomegranates if the birds haven’t eaten them, lillypillies in warm areas, citrons, medlars, olives, late tamarillos above the frost, winter rhubarb.

August: Sturmer Pippin or Lady Williams apples that improve when stored and wrinkled, unlike most other fruit, stored quinces (ditto), Navel oranges, lemons, lemonade fruit, custard apples in warm areas, tangelos, mandarins, cumquats, calamondins, pomelos, shaddock, satsuma, lillypillies in warm areas, Atherton raspberries in warmer areas, Japanese raisin “fruit” (swollen stems), kiwifruit, grapefruit, avocadoes, a few macadamia nuts, rhubarb and Tahitian and kaffir limes.

September: Navel oranges, lemons, grapefruit, cumquats, calamondins, limes, tangelos, tangor, mandarins, avocadoes, small alpine strawberries (not the large, new varieties that fruit later), Japanese raisin “fruit”, lillypillies, pawpaw in warmer areas, Cape gooseberries if they haven’t been frosted off (autumn’s will mature now), ditto tamarillos, early loquats and rhubarb.

October: Loquats, Navel oranges, lemons, limes, tangelos, tangor, mandarins, grapefruit, cumquats, calamondins, pomelos, citrons, Tahitian limes, kaffir limes, citrons, early blueberries, lillypillies, Japanese raisin “fruit”, avocadoes, early strawberries, early raspberries in warm spots, rhubarb, banana passionfruit and tamarillos ripening from last season. Keep eating stored Lady Williams apples and nuts.

November: Cherries, early peaches, early nectarines, early apricots, small early plums, loquats, oranges, mandarins, citrons, bush lemons, early Capulin cherries, lemons, limes, grapefruit, tangelos, avocadoes, strawberries, blueberries, early loganberries, Japanese raisin “fruit”, lillypillies and early raspberries.

December: Cherries, nectarines, peaches, plums, apricots, passionfruit, banana passionfruit, gooseberries, Cape gooseberries, Valencia oranges left on the tree, lemons, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries and other brambleberries such as loganberries, Capulin cherries, lillypillies and sometimes early figs.

How to Grow Fresh Fruit All Year Long

Harvesting  fresh fruit can be done all year round if you choose the right varieties to grow and take care of, even when they are not producing. We have written up a few tips and instructions below to help you have year-round produce regardless of where you live and what your local climate is.

Understand your Climate

It is crucial that every gardener should understand the growing climate and what to expect throughout the year. Different varieties of fruit prefer specific temperatures and trying to grow them outside of this temperature window may lead to problems. Learn how many days per year your area has frost or freezing temperatures as trying to grow fruits that like warm temperatures in a cold region will lead to crop failure. If you live in a very hot area, you may want to delay planting fruits until the warm period is over to save you continually watering or the fruit drying up and spoiling.

Plant Different Varieties Throughout the Year

To keep a year-round supply of fresh fruit in your garden, you will need to choose which varieties are suited to warmer and colder periods. Many fruits are grown in the spring and summer, such as strawberries, apricots, plums, cherries, and melons. By keeping a diverse range of fruits in your garden, you will be sure to have plenty available in the summer months. Although it may seem strange, several plant varieties are averse to the cold and can be grown in winter months. Fruits like lemon, winter squash, pomelo, avocado, passion fruit, and guava. Some of these winter fruits need a cold climate to start fruiting and may struggle if you live in a tropical area where cold periods are few and short.

Helping Plants Through the Cold Period

With greenhouses and a little care, you can prolong your summer growing season to keep your variety of fruit available high. Banana trees will need wrapping to protect them from frost but will be good for next year if you are careful and wrap them before the frost hits. Try to keep smaller fruit plants in pots so you can quickly move them into your greenhouse if frosts are predicted. The roots of many fruit trees need to be kept above freezing, or this may kill the tree. Put a layer of thick mulch down in the autumn months and never water them once the temperature starts to drop. If your plants are still producing fruit in the greenhouse, you will want to cover them in a light blanket if frost is predicted, this gives them an extra layer of protection from the cold.

Helping Plants in Hot Periods

As global warming continues, we will see many drier and wetter periods, and we need to be able to keep our plants alive during these extreme weather conditions. One of the critical components to helping fragile plants survive hotter times, and reducing the chance of heat stress in your plants, is keeping a good layer of mulch on the ground. Mulch will help to trap moisture and keep the roots fed even when the temperature soars. Many young fruit plants will benefit from some afternoon shade, so with this in mind try to situate more immature plants in areas that will get some respite from the sun during the summer. Keep your garden well-watered and try to only water early in the morning or after the sun has started to set to give the water a chance to penetrate the soil. Well fertilised and healthy plants will cope better with extreme heat than poorly fertilised plants. Try to limit pruning during the hottest months as plants may suffer as they don’t like to be disturbed when dealing with extreme temperatures.

Maintaining Your Soil

The most significant factor that will determine the health and harvest you get from your fruit plants is the soil they are planted in. For the best soil, you will want to use lots of organic matter such as grass clippings, vegetable peelings, garden waste and any other organic material you might have. Limit the number of pesticides you use on your crops to keep the soil organic. Try to plan ahead and rotate crops accordingly. Different plants prefer different nutrients, so keeping them in the same place each year may deplete your soil of vital nutrients that they need. Keep your soil loose so that water can penetrate deep into the ground rather than sitting on the surface as the water will evaporate away, giving no benefit to your plants.

Start Growing

You do not need a huge garden to be able to produce an abundance of fruit throughout the year. It just takes a little thought and care. Understand what will grow best in your region and start building your year-round fruit orchard. Ask family members what fruits they prefer and plan your garden to be able to provide what they like all year round.