Fruit by harvest month

Real Data from a Mediterranean Botanical Garden

When does a white sapote ripen in southern Portugal? Does a jabuticaba fruit here — and if so, when? For many of the unusual fruits growing at Orchard of Flavours, these were open questions. This calendar is our answer: actual harvest times, observed on-site, including many plants for which no published data existed.

Use it to explore what tree fruits when in a Mediterranean climate, and to plan an orchard that offers something fresh every month of the year. Click a month for a single view, or select two months to see a range.

What the calendar shows us

This calendar only lists what we have actually harvested in the garden, year after year. Young trees that have not yet fruited with us are not included, so the list grows every season.

A few patterns stand out from the data:

Autumn is the great peak. October is our richest month, with around 180 plants in harvest, followed by September and November. Whatever their origin, most trees ripen their fruit at the end of the long, hot summer.

Origin does not predict the season — climate does. Trees do not keep the calendar of their home country. The Indian blackberry or jambolan plum (Syzygium cumini) fruits in June–July in monsoon India, but in October here. Almost every species re-anchors to the same local rhythm: flowering in spring, ripening in autumn.

Winter is the real test. January and February are our leanest months. Fresh fruit in midwinter comes from a small group of allies: citrus, avocados, the ice cream bean (Inga edulis) and the Indian jujube (Ziziphus mauritiana). Winter is exactly where new introductions can add the most value.

A few species carry the garden for months. Bananas give fruit from April to December, papayas and passion fruit for most of the warm season, while most trees offer a window of only one or two months.

Spring belongs to South America. The subtropical cherries — pitanga and the cherry of the Rio Grande among them — give us a separate early flush in May and June, before the main season begins.

Fruits by Harvest Month

Full harvest calendar (text version)

Harvest months observed at the Orchard of Flavours, Luz de Tavira, Algarve (updated August 2026). Young trees that have not yet fruited with us are not listed.