Australia has witnessed a warmer winter than usual in 2023 and the blossoming nectarines and jackfruit trees are announcing the fact.
The first sign of the southern spring is usually the bloom in magnolias. This year, the lovely flower has come up early while it is still winter.
It is not only stone fruits that are shrugging of the cold season’s wilt. Tomatoes of the species Solanum pimpinellifolium have naturally budded in Brisbane. Jerry Coleby-Williams, a Brisbane-based conservationist alludes the blessing as thanks to a “warm, dry winter.”
This year in Victoria, magnolias, jacaranda and jasmine have already sprout their showy buds before winter is yet to go. Victoria state has traditionally served as a spotting site for early spring flowers.
Apricots are at their handsomest in Canberra, a stone fruit paradise. Though they usually blossom in winter (July to August) before transforming into fruits by October, apricots bloom best in dry winter conditions.
Will this ease the price of jackfruit berries now retailing at $29.99 per kg in the Land Down Under? Time will tell. The same applies to the price of apricots, which average $23.95 per kilo but can be as high as $30 per kilo.
In January 2023, stone fruits in Australia registered low harvests in the wake of the floods of December 2022. Prices rose especially in the affected New South Wales. Luckily, the diversity of fruit varieties saw supplies continue to trickle in till the late southern summer, in March.
It is interesting that this early blossoming season coincides with high inflation that has seen supermarkets like Coles raise grocery prices. The supermarket also announced on August 22, 2023 that its profit was down despite spiking prices, due to attendant factors such as theft at its stores.
Despite these inflation pitfalls, the stone fruit, pear and apple sector in the country has been growing annually by 3.5%. The sector is likely to reach a value of $1.5 billion by end 2023.
Most stone fruits in Australia such as pears and apricots grow in orchards in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales. Their harvest starts in November and lasts till late February the following year.