Which fruit, vegetable, and citrus varieties are at peak harvest across Turkey in August, product by product.
August sits at one of the busiest crossing points of Turkey's harvest calendar. Grape, fig, and melon season all hit their peak in the same weeks that the last stone-fruit varieties of summer are still coming off the tree, while the season's first apple and pear varieties open an entirely new fruit cycle. Below is a product-by-product look at what's at peak, what's still available, and what's just winding down, drawn directly from our own variety-level Seasonal Calendar. For the general logic behind how a season opens, peaks, and closes, see our seasonal product guide.
Vegetables in heavy supply
Pepper is at full volume in August across every variety we supply — Capia, Bell, Long Green, and Çarliston all reach harvest together, which is why August is one of the strongest supply months for the category; see our pepper variety guide for the differences between them. Eggplant follows the same pattern, with Kemer, Pala, and Aydın Black varieties all at their busiest — a category where Turkey is a consistent top-five global exporter by value, in company with Spain, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United States, covered in full in our eggplant variety guide. Zucchini (summer squash) and pickling-type cucumber (kornişon) are likewise at their busiest, with crisp-type cucumber still in good supply just behind them — our cucumber and zucchini guide covers the difference. Garlic is at its highest volume too, including our Taşköprü variety — see our Taşköprü garlic guide for its EU-protected geographic indication status. Tomato (truss, cherry, and pink types), carrot, dry onion, and potato remain in solid supply through August without yet being at their single peak point.
Grapes, figs, and melons in full swing
Early grape varieties — Sultana Seedless, Razaki, and Antep Karası — are at their high point in August, with Red Globe and Crimson Seedless following just behind; Turkey is regularly ranked among the world's top ten grape-producing countries, with an annual harvest in the millions of tons, and our grape variety guide covers how these varieties differ in use and shelf life. Fig reaches its high point with the Bursa Black variety, while İzmir's Bardacık variety is close behind — Turkey is the world's leading fig producer, and this is exactly the window in which that leadership shows up on export documentation, as our fig variety guide explains. Every melon variety we supply — Kırkağaç (Altınbaş), Kallavi, Galia, Ananas, and Piel de Sapo — is at full volume in August; beyond the domestic market, Turkish melon exports lean heavily on Germany, Romania, Poland, Russia, and Bulgaria, with further demand from the Middle East, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. Watermelon reaches its high point with Crimson Sweet and Black Pearl, with mini watermelon still in season alongside them; Germany, Russia and Poland together take roughly half of Turkey's watermelon export value (IndexBox, 2023 data), and our melon and watermelon guide explains why these two crops share such a long joint season.
Stone fruit's last act, and the season's first apples and pears
August is the busiest month for several stone-fruit varieties before the category closes out for the year: peach (flat peach and Monroe), nectarine (Venus and Gransun), and plum (Murdum and Black Amber) are all at their high point, with Redhaven peach, Armking/Big Top/Orion nectarine, and Türbe/President plum varieties still supplying alongside them — see our stone fruit guide for the full picture across all three. Apricot reaches a late high point with the Kabaaşı variety, the last of the season after Hasanbey and Şekerpare, and our apricot variety guide covers Malatya's EU-protected status behind it. At the other end of the calendar, August marks the very start of a new cycle: Gala is the first apple variety of the season and is already at full volume, and our apple variety guide covers what follows it later in the year. Pear varieties such as Santa Maria and Red Pear are also at their high point, with Akça and Deveci still available, and early Ernar pomegranate opens its own season in August as well.
What's winding down, and lemon's first stirring
Cherry (0900 Ziraat and Lapins) and sour cherry (Kütahya) are past their peak by August, with only the last, high-altitude lots still trickling in as the season closes out. Citrus is almost entirely absent from the August calendar, with one partial exception: Mayer, the earliest lemon variety of the season, thin-skinned and low in acidity, comes to harvest in the second half of the month. The other lemon varieties follow in sequence from September onward — our year-round lemon guide covers the full sequence.
Because so many products peak in the same few weeks, August is also a month where cold chain discipline matters more than usual — see our cold chain guide for how we keep quality consistent from harvest to shipment. You can check our Seasonal Calendar for the current month at any time, or our full Products page for variety and packaging detail on any item above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which products are at their peak in Turkey in August?
Pepper, eggplant, zucchini, pickling cucumber, garlic, grapes (Sultana Seedless, Razaki, Antep Karası), fig (Bursa Black), every melon variety we supply, watermelon (Crimson Sweet, Black Pearl), peach, nectarine, plum, apricot (Kabaaşı), and the season's first apple (Gala) and pear (Santa Maria, Red Pear) varieties are all at their high point in August; lemon's earliest variety, Mayer, begins its harvest in the second half of the month.
Is cherry still available in August?
Only in limited volume. Cherry and sour cherry are past their busiest by August, with just the last high-altitude lots still trickling in as the season closes out.
