The Irish name for bilberries — small, dark, wild relatives of the blueberry that grow on acid upland ground and ripen in July.

How do I deal with a courgette glut?

Pick small and often, then ferment, chutney or grate and freeze. A marrow left on the plant stops the plant producing.

What's in season in July in the southern hemisphere?

Deep winter — citrus, avocado and stored roots, with the growing year at its quietest.

Season guide

What's in season in July, around the world

July. Glut, berries and high summer in the north; deep winter and planning in the south.

July at a glance

Climate band	Ripe now	Being foraged	Going in the ground
Northern temperate40–60°N	Raspberries, currants, courgettes, new potatoes	Bilberries, wild raspberry, chanterelle, samphire	Autumn salads, spring cabbage, turnips
Mediterranean & warm temperate30–40°N/S	Peaches, tomatoes, aubergines, melons	Wild figs, capers	Autumn brassicas, leeks
Southern temperate30–50°S	Citrus, kiwifruit, winter roots	Wood ear, wild watercress	Under cover: tomatoes, chillies
Tropical & subtropical0–25°N/S	Rambutan, longan, banana	Bamboo shoots, wild honey	Rice, vegetables in the wet

In the north

The glut. Raspberries, currants and gooseberries all at once, courgettes turning into marrows overnight, and the first real question of the year: what do you do with all of it?

On the hills it is bilberry month — fraughans in Ireland, whortleberries in England, blaeberries in Scotland — low, dark and slow to pick, and worth every minute. Samphire is cut on the salt marshes, and chanterelles are in the mossy woods.

In the ground the trick is to keep sowing: autumn salads, spring cabbage, turnips. Everything that goes in now feeds you when nothing is growing.

What's in season in Ireland in July

In the south

Deep winter and the planning month. Little is ripening in the southern temperate band beyond citrus and winter roots, and the work is pruning, mulching, ordering seed and getting tomatoes and chillies started under cover.

In the tropics the wet season sets the pace, and rambutan, longan and banana carry the fruit bowl.

Marked days

Fraughan Sunday
Ireland, last Sunday in July
Bilberries picked on the hills — a survival of Lughnasa, and once the day young people were allowed up the mountain together unsupervised.
Doyo no Ushi no Hi
Japan, midsummer
Eel, eaten specifically to survive the heat of high summer.
Cloudberry season
Nordic and Arctic
The most jealously guarded picking spots in Europe; locations are inherited, not shared.

From the community

No entries for July yet — yours would be the first.

Tell us what's ripe where you are, and what your place does with it.

Find somewhere near you

6 places on the map are in season in July.

Sonoma Heritage Pear Grove
Bartlett pears · Sebastopol, California, USA
Door County Cherry Lanes
Montmorency cherries · Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, USA
Garden of England Cherry Orchard
Cherries & plums · Faversham, Kent, United Kingdom
Highland Wild Bramble Walk
Blaeberries & brambles · Aviemore, Scotland, United Kingdom
Yamanashi Peach Terraces
White peaches · Fuefuki, Yamanashi, Japan
Krause Berry Farms
Strawberries · Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Open the map

This month in the Harvest Club

July's Gathering is Glut — what to do when the harvest all arrives at once.

Join the club →

Questions

What are fraughans?: The Irish name for bilberries — small, dark, wild relatives of the blueberry that grow on acid upland ground and ripen in July.
How do I deal with a courgette glut?: Pick small and often, then ferment, chutney or grate and freeze. A marrow left on the plant stops the plant producing.
What's in season in July in the southern hemisphere?: Deep winter — citrus, avocado and stored roots, with the growing year at its quietest.