Urban Self Sufficiency NZ

Fruit is so much easier to be self-sufficient in than veggies if you are time-poor. So it’s a great starting point.

Fruit is almost all perennial, so it’s a one-off job of planting. And while it pays to prune, and some fruit trees also need maintenance to avoid things like leaf curl, it’s generally a much easier job than planting and raising veggie seeds, and then transplanting and raising in the garden, and remembering to keep succession planting going.

The main disadvantage to fruit however is it does take a while to establish, so best to get started now!

Most of our months are fully covered with enough fresh fruit already, except for late winter and early spring. In 2023 we only had to buy fruit in August-October as we are still waiting for our citrus to establish and working on getting kiwi fruit going.

The months where we don’t have a full supply of fruit are those we eat more pressure canned fruit as well as dried fruit and homemade fruit leather. For now we are buying fruit in those 2-3 months because nothing quite beats juicy fresh stuff! But hopefully within another year or two we will have winter fruit coverage too.

The below is obviously for the southern hemisphere, and what I’ve found to work for us in North Canterbury. You’d have to offset 6 months for a northern hemisphere version, and might find places like NZ’s North Island to actually be a month ahead in some fruits.

January

This is the month that our stone fruit starts really coming ripe. It’s really the first month we start becoming inundated with fruit. And usually by this point I’m pretty over berries, and quite ready for the variety that January starts bringing.

We have:

• Peaches (Flatto)
• Plums
• Nectarines
• Apricots (Moorpark)
• Strawberries
• Raspberries (Red)
• Raspberries (Ivory)
• Red currants
• Black currants
• Gooseberries (Invicta)
• Blueberries
• Boysenberries

February

More and more of our stone fruit keeps ripening, as most our berries start finishing off for the year. It’s probably my favourite time in the garden, as there’s a little bit of everything around.

• Peaches (Flatto + Dwarf)
• Nectarines
• Plums (Omega, Luisa)
• Prune plums (Italian)
• Apples (Peasgoodnonsuch + Gala)
• Raspberries (Red)
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Boysenberries
• Blackberries

March

This is a hectic preserving month, especially with our purple peaches. The apples are really dropping too, and the garden begins to feel like a full time job to preserve fruit for winter.

• Peaches (Purple / Sanguine)
• Plums (Omega)
• Nashi (Hosui + Nijisseiki)
• Grapes
• Apples (Coxs Orange + Granny Smith)
• Raspberries (Ivory)
• Figs
• NZ Cranberries
• Strawberries
• Blackberries

April

This is the last month of glut. The last bit of preserving before everything slows down for the winter season. And to be honest by this point I’m normally ready for the slow winter! I usually pick the good apples to pop in the shed at some point during this month, so that we’ve got a steady supply for winter.

• Apples (Coxs Orange + Granny Smith)
• Pears (Winter Cole)
• Nashi (Hosui + Nijisseiki)
• Grapes
• Raspberries (Ivory)
• Strawberries
• Figs
• NZ Cranberries

May

We are still getting fresh fruit on a regular basis at this point, but the harvests are definitely dying down. The exact fruit does depend a little on how cold it is and when exactly the first frost is. Normally we can harvest all of the below, but some years much more! Some years we’ve even had strawberries into June!

• Apples (From storage)
• Pears (From storage)
• Raspberries (Ivory)
• Figs
• NZ Cranberries
• Fejioa

June

By June, everything has really slowed down, but the fejioas are only just getting started. I’m too tired for anymore preserving by now, so they just get eaten fresh by the bucket-full.

• Apples (From storage)
• Pears (From storage)
• Fejioa
• Cape Gooseberry
• Kiwifruit
• Mandarins
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Lemons

July

There’s still enough without citrus in July, and to be honest baking becomes more of a preference for snacks in these colder months anyway.

• Apples (From storage)
• Pears (From storage)
• Fejioa
• Cape Gooseberry
• Kiwifruit
• Mandarins
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Lemons

August

The daffodils may be coming up, but the summer fruit is still a long way away. These next three months are actually the hardest in fruit, even though the weather is getting warmer, it’s actually a while before the fruit is ready. And because citrus takes so long to establish here in Canterbury, it’s a long time to fill those months in!

• Apples (From storage)
• Pears (From storage)
• Cape Gooseberry
• Mandarins
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Lemons

September

The fruit trees are blossoming, so we’re getting closer! But it’s still another 2 months before any fresh fruit outside of citrus and apples and pears that we’ve managed to keep in cold storage over winter.

• Apples (From storage)
• Pears (From storage)
• Mandarins
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Lemons

October

One last month before the new seasons fruit! It’s a time to start finishing up those stored apples as it won’t be long till the first new season fruit – the red currants – is ripe.

• Apples (From storage)
• Pears (From storage)
• Mandarins
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Lemons

November

This is finally the month the berries start coming through. The start of the new season, which is always such a welcome sight after winter! Every week there’s more and more.

• Apples (From storage)
• Loquat
• Raspberries (Red)
• Strawberries
• Red currants

December

Continuing of more and more fruit coming up! The berry hauls get bigger and bigger! Plus with cherries and foraged plums it becomes the start of the stone fruit season too.

• Cherries (Stella)
• Loquat
• Foraged wild plums
• Raspberries (Red)
• Strawberries
• Gooseberries (Invicta)
• Red currants
• Black currants