When European Vegetables Are in Season — A Chef's Calendar
A seasonal vegetable calendar for European kitchens: 35 vegetables with both their available months and their peak months, and what the gap between the two means when you're writing a menu.
Most seasonal calendars are written for shoppers. They tell you to eat seasonally because it's better for the planet, which is true and not very useful when you're writing a menu for March.
What a kitchen needs is different: when something is available, and when it's actually worth buying. Those aren't the same month. Carrots are available all year across Europe. They're worth building a dish around between July and October, and the rest of the time you're buying storage crop and should cook it accordingly.
This is the full list — 35 vegetables, with both ranges.
The calendar
| Vegetable | Available | Peak |
|---|---|---|
| Asparagus | Apr–Jun | May |
| Peas | May–Aug | Jun–Jul |
| Broad beans | May–Aug | Jun–Jul |
| Green beans | Jun–Oct | Jul–Sep |
| Spinach | Mar–Nov | Apr–May |
| Chard | Apr–Oct | Jun–Sep |
| Carrot | All year | Jul–Oct |
| New potato | May–Aug | Jun–Jul |
| Onion | All year | Aug–Oct |
| Spring onion | Mar–Sep | Apr–Jun |
| Tomato | Jun–Oct | Aug–Sep |
| Courgette | Jun–Oct | Jul–Sep |
| Cucumber | Jun–Oct | Jul–Sep |
| Aubergine | Jul–Oct | Aug–Sep |
| Pepper | Jul–Oct | Aug–Oct |
| Sweetcorn | Aug–Oct | Aug–Sep |
| Garlic (fresh/wet) | Jun–Aug | Jun–Jul |
| Globe artichoke | May–Aug | Jun–Jul |
| Fennel | Jun–Nov | Sep–Oct |
| Lettuce | Apr–Oct | May–Sep |
| Broccoli | Jun–Nov | Aug–Oct |
| Cauliflower | All year | Apr–May, Sep–Nov |
| Cabbage | All year | Oct–Feb |
| Kale | Sep–Mar | Nov–Feb |
| Brussels sprouts | Oct–Feb | Nov–Jan |
| Leek | All year | Oct–Feb |
| Beetroot | All year | Jun–Oct |
| Parsnip | Sep–Mar | Nov–Feb |
| Turnip | All year | Jul–Oct |
| Celeriac | Sep–Mar | Oct–Jan |
| Jerusalem artichoke | Oct–Mar | Nov–Feb |
| Pumpkin | Aug–Nov | Oct |
| Winter squash | Aug–Feb | Oct–Dec |
| Rocket | Mar–Oct | Apr–Jun, Sep |
| Radish | Mar–Oct | Apr–Jun |
How far this shifts across Europe
Europe is not one growing season, and any calendar that pretends otherwise is lying to you. The ranges above sit in the middle — roughly the temperate band that covers France, Germany, Austria, the Benelux, Poland, northern Italy and the Alpine countries.
Move south and everything arrives earlier. Spanish, southern Italian and Greek asparagus is cutting in March while Austria is still waiting. Tomatoes and peppers run months longer at both ends. Move north — Scandinavia, Scotland, the Baltics — and the whole calendar compresses: a shorter window, later arrival, and some things that simply don't ripen outdoors.
As a rough working rule, shift the table two to three weeks earlier for southern Europe and two to three weeks later for the north. It's not precise, but it's closer than assuming one calendar fits the continent.
The other variable is what your supplier actually does. Glasshouse and polytunnel production extends most of the summer crops well beyond their field season, which is why you can buy a Dutch tomato in February. It's available. It isn't in season.
What the gap between the two columns tells you
Asparagus is the tightest window on the list. Available April to June, peak in May alone. Which is why the price collapses in May and why half the menus in Europe run it then. If you're building a spring menu, that single month is what you plan around.
Anything marked "all year" is a storage question, not a season question. Carrots, onions, leeks, cabbage, beetroot, turnip — you can always get them, but between the peak months and the next harvest you're cooking stored crop. It's drier, the sugars have moved, and it behaves differently. Not worse, necessarily; a stored carrot roasts better than a new one. But if you're wondering why the same dish tastes different in March, that's why.
Some peaks run against the harvest instinct. Kale, Brussels sprouts and parsnip all peak in the cold months, and that's not a supply artefact — frost converts starch to sugar in those crops. The November parsnip is a different ingredient to the September one.
Cauliflower has two peaks, April to May and September to November, because it's grown in two cycles. Worth knowing if you're planning a menu change in high summer and wondering why it's suddenly expensive.
Using this when you cost a menu
Peak season is when supply is highest and price is lowest, and those two move together. A dish built around something at peak has a better margin than the same dish six weeks later, without changing anything on the plate.
That's the practical argument for seasonal cooking in a professional kitchen, and it's a stronger one than the environmental case: it's cheaper and it tastes better at the same time. Those don't often line up.
The one caution: peak also means everyone else is buying it. If you're building a menu around asparagus in May, so is every other kitchen in the region, and your supplier knows it.
Where these numbers come from
This is the European set from DigitalKnife's Seasonal Calendar — 116 entries for Europe covering vegetables, fruit, herbs and wild mushrooms, with the same data for North America, South America and Asia. It's free in the app, no account needed, and it shows you what's peaking in the current month rather than making you read a table.
But the table is the point of this post. Print it, pin it in the office, use whatever's to hand.