Summer

When summer arrives it’s got nothing to do with dates. Mother Nature does what and when she chooses. Proof of the new season is in the gardens and farms all around us. Beautiful heirloom beets, an extraordinary array of salad leaves and herbs; garlic, tomatoes, beans; the last of a huge crop of snow peas, zucchini, squash, eggplant and the most luscious boysenberries and white peaches, all to be followed by a wide variety of apples. You’ll find much of this produce on our plates in summer – snapping fresh, often picked that morning and sometimes not having seen the inside of a cool room. It’s a unique time of year when bumper local crops enable us to do this. Of course Mother Nature needs to behave. Too much heat and vegetables bolt and fruit splits. Too much rain and we stand losing the berries. You have to hand it to our farmers – often the unsung heroes of the food world. Theirs is no easy task.
– Alla Wolf Tasker

An abundance of virtually everything. Morello cherries and berries are particularly anticipated. Fresh cut lavender or dried from Lavandula. Heirloom tomatoes with fresh basil on local pasta washed down with a Gisborne Peak Rosé enjoyed on a sunny balcony – hard to beat.