What grows and when to pick it
Mandarins, persimmon, feijoa and figs: a calendar of the seasons and where to buy so it is good and cheap.
checked in August 2026Adjara is humid subtropics, and that is the key thing about the food here: almost everything grows nearby and reaches the market the same day. People buy fruit in season rather than all year — and the difference in taste cures you of supermarket habits fast.
📅 Harvest calendar
| When | What ripens |
|---|---|
| May–June | sweet and sour cherries, mulberries, medlar, cherry plums, strawberries |
| June | plums, early apples and pears |
| July | peaches, nectarines, apricots; figs begin |
| August | figs, watermelon and melon, early grapes |
| September–October | grapes, pomegranates, quince |
| October–November | persimmon, feijoa, kiwi |
| November–January | mandarins, lemons, oranges |
🍋 The local stars
🍊 Mandarins
Adjara's main crop. The season starts in November and lasts all winter: they are sold literally everywhere, roadsides included, and cost next to nothing.
They are often picked while still green because they travel better. A green side does not mean sour — judge by softness and smell, not colour.
🟠 Persimmon
Ripens in mid-autumn. Locals pick it firm in October, peel it and hang it in the shade for a month or two — the result is dried persimmon with a dense, sweet taste.
Buy fresh ones soft enough to be jelly-like, or they will dry your mouth out. Firm and sweet at once means a different variety, the “korolyok”.
🥝 Feijoa
October and November. It smells like something between strawberry and pineapple. Eaten with a spoon out of the half, or minced with sugar — the local winter preserve.
🫒 Figs
July and August. They do not keep and do not travel, so out of season there simply are none — and in season they are on every corner.
🍇 Grapes
September and October. Georgia is the birthplace of winemaking, and in autumn the villages hold rtveli, the harvest. Table grapes appear at the market from late summer.
🍃 Tea
Adjara is historically tea country: the first plantations were laid out at Chakvi in the late 19th century. Some are still working and run tours.
🛒 Where to buy
- Boni market — the main city market; come in the morning.
- From the grandmothers on street corners — the best and the cheapest, especially berries and herbs. Haggling is not done; the prices are already low.
- Along the roads out of town — in mandarin and persimmon season farmers sell right by the highway, at half the city price.
- At the supermarket — convenient but pricier, and the fruit is more often imported.
🌴 Inedible but hard to miss: palms, magnolias, oleanders and bamboo grow in the city, and half an hour from the sea Adjara's humid forests and waterfalls begin. The Batumi Botanical Garden above the sea is one of the oldest in the region, and you will not walk it in an hour.