Fresh food: Best buying in fruit and vegetables around Sydney

Robinpowell.com.au

In now: It's all about the berries – blueberries from the north coast, strawberries from the Sydney region and from WA, and plenty of local mulberries.

At their best: Celebrate the high point of the asparagus season. Save the snapped-off ends and turn them into stock for a future asparagus risotto.

Best buy: Try Jerusalem artichokes scrubbed clean then shaved raw into a salad with celery, apple and mixed leaves.

In the vegie patch: The little green caterpillars of the cabbage white butterfly are the scourge of the brassica bed. Exclusion is the best policy. Suspend net over the growing plants.