In Season : FRUIT

Good weather in the Fresno-Dinuba-Reedley area during the winter and an early spring means prices for peaches and nectarines should be low for the next month. Farmers expect this year’s harvest to be at least 6% to 7% larger than last year’s.

* Eagerly awaited Flavorcrest peaches are starting to show up in stores right now. It’s a flavorful peach that should be around for the next two or three weeks. Babcocks and other sweet, white-fleshed varieties are also available now in specialty markets--especially in Asian neighborhoods, where, experts claim, their extra sweetness is much appreciated.

* Nectarines are moving into the peak of their season. This year, for the first time ever, they were actually harvested before peaches, thanks to the introduction of the new April Glo, a patented variety from the desert. April Glo is long gone, but you can now find another new variety--sweet, white Arctic nectarines.

* Bing, Rainier and Lambert cherries from Eastern Washington, Oregon and Idaho are being picked earlier than ever this year. One of the biggest crops since the early 1980s is expected, so prices should be reasonable.

* This isn’t a good time to buy grapefruit since the desert crop from Arizona and the Coachella Valley is diminishing and the summer crop from Riverside, northern San Diego and Ventura counties isn’t ready to pick. But when harvesting does begin (probably within another two weeks), farmers expect this year’s crop to be bigger than last year’s and the quality to be fairly good.

VEGETABLES

* This year’s lettuce harvest was slowed due to winter rains that made planting difficult. But various lettuces are now starting to come to market. Most are from the Santa Maria area, but the Salinas area is beginning to pick up.

* Don’t look for local tomatoes in your supermarket; they are still being trucked in from Florida and Mexico. The California crop won’t be in until later this month.

* Broccoli and cauliflower prices are still high and will probably remain so for the rest of the month. In Salinas, the effects of late spring rains are still being felt. In Santa Maria, it was a mid-season heat wave that threw off the growth cycle. Both places have suffered insect problems as well.

* The harvest of corn is moving from the Coachella area to around Irvine, but prices shouldn’t be effected as the growing seasons overlap.

MEAT AND FISH

* There’s a lot of halibut around right now--either the giant Pacific variety (weighing up to 400 pounds) or the smaller California variety (up to 30 pounds)--and it should be very inexpensive. Most of the halibut on the West Coast is caught by hook and line rather than with nets, which means that the quality is superior, since the fish gets individual handling. The season runs roughly from mid-May to October for the big fish, May to July for the locals.