What fruit and vegetables are in season in the Netherlands right now?

Walk through a Dutch street market in late September and autumn is already on the stalls. Crates of pumpkins, celeriac with the soil still on it, bundles of leeks, boxes of apples and pears. Yet the tomatoes and peppers have not gone anywhere. It is a lovely month for a party, because you can borrow from two seasons at once.

What counts as seasonal produce

Fruit and vegetables grown in open fields, under plastic tunnels or in unheated greenhouses have a fixed stretch every year when they are ready to harvest. During those weeks they are seasonal produce, as the Dutch nutrition centre, the Voedingscentrum, puts it. Think asparagus in spring and cherries in summer.

The dates are not set in stone. Growing depends on the weather, so the harvest can shift from year to year. And in the supermarket you cannot tell whether something came from a field or a greenhouse. The shelf label or the packaging does tell you whether it was grown in the Netherlands.

What is in season in September, October and November

The Voedingscentrum's seasonal calendar lists, month by month, what comes from Dutch fields and unheated greenhouses. For the weeks ahead it looks like this.

• September: apples, pears, plums, figs, grapes, blackberries and raspberries, alongside pumpkin, sweetcorn, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, fennel and beetroot.
• October: apples, pears, grapes, blackberries, raspberries and quince. Kale, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, chicory and lamb's lettuce join the vegetables.
• November: apples, pears and grapes, with a vegetable rack full of kale, sprouts, parsnips, pumpkin, leeks, celeriac, red cabbage and Jerusalem artichokes.

Carrots and leeks are on the calendar all year. Apples and pears are mostly picked in autumn and then kept in cold storage, which makes them a Dutch seasonal product from September through May.

The rest of the year at a glance

Winter keeps the fruit bowl simple. From December through March, apples and pears are the only fruit on the calendar. The vegetables are hearty instead: kale, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, celeriac, beetroot, chicory and winter purslane.

Rhubarb turns up in March, the first asparagus and strawberries in April, and mangetout and garden peas in May. Summer is the richest stretch, with cherries, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and tomatoes, plus courgettes and peppers in July and August.

Why it is better for the climate

Dutch seasonal fruit and vegetables take little energy to grow and transport, so fewer greenhouse gases are released. The biggest differences come from the product and the way it is grown, and the greenhouse stands out. Heating and lighting greenhouses with gas uses a lot of energy. According to Milieu Centraal, the Dutch environmental information centre, around 10 percent of all gas used in the Netherlands goes into heating greenhouses.

Flying produce in also has a large climate impact, although it does not happen often. Transport by road or by ship is the friendlier option. One exception is soft fruit in winter. Strawberries and raspberries are then often flown in or grown in heated greenhouses, the Voedingscentrum explains in its advice on choosing sustainable fruit and vegetables. Frozen berries are a fine choice all year.

There is a practical upside too. Recipes built on seasonal vegetables often cost less. And you are cooking with whatever is ready to harvest that week, which is where any good menu starts.

What it means for a fruit tower or vegetable platter

A fruit tower in October can be mostly home grown: wedges of apple and pear, bunches of grapes, a handful of blackberries and raspberries. A pineapple crown and halved oranges fit right in, since both are on the list of climate friendly imports. Strawberries belong to April through August. In winter, fresh soft fruit is best left on the shelf.

For a vegetable platter, September is the most generous month. Carrots, radishes, cucumber, peppers, celery, fennel, cauliflower and broccoli are all on the calendar. By November the cucumber, peppers and radishes have dropped off the calendar, and carrots, celery, fennel, chicory and cauliflower take centre stage. Wash everything thoroughly under running water first, as the Voedingscentrum advises.

How much fruit and veg you need a day

Adults are advised to eat at least 250 grams of vegetables and 200 grams of fruit a day, according to the Voedingscentrum. For children up to and including 9, the fruit advice is 150 grams. Vegetables count as you eat them, raw or cooked. Juice is no substitute, as it has less fibre and fewer nutrients than whole fruit.

Most of us fall short. The Dutch eat around 153 grams of vegetables and 135 grams of fruit a day on average, and roughly 81 percent of those vegetables are eaten at dinner. So a bowl of crudités at a birthday party counts, and is more than decoration.

Fruit and vegetables are also among the foods Dutch households throw away most. For ways to avoid that after a party, read less food waste at parties.

Maximus Catering in Ede and the surrounding area makes fruit towers and vegetable platters exactly the way you want them. Once you know the month of your party, hold it up against the calendar and see what is possible on fruit and vegetables.