Our experts travelling all year around to find suitable cultivation areas, farmers and new products that correspond to the lehmann natur organic quality. As a full-range organic supplier, we strive to provide you with a large selection of fresh, seasonal and regional fruits and vegetables.
If you need items that are not in season, we will be happy to check the procurement options for you.
Apples from overseas are bad for the climate? It is not quite that easy. Because as soon as the apple harvest is over in Germany, a lot of energy is needed in cold storages to make the Germans’ favorite fruit last as long as possible. From June until the next German harvest in autumn. Fresh apples in season from overseas are therefore the more climate-friendly choice. This applies, in particular, to organically grown apples, because healthy, humus-rich soils can store CO2 in the soil.
On average, every German eats almost twelve kilograms of bananas a year. The popular yellow exotics are naturally well packed and, thanks to the peel, well protected for long transportion. Packing them in plastic is therefore no option for us. To mark them as organic, we use recycled paper bands instead.
Today the button mushroom is the world’s most important cultivated mushroom. How did that happen?
In the 17th century, a French melon farmer poured the washing water from ripe button mushrooms into his melon waste. Shortly thereafter, small button mushrooms sprouted everywhere: the birth of button mushroom cultivation. Today, most button mushrooms are grown in the Netherlands – increasingly also in organic quality.
Legumes are not only healthy, plant-based protein suppliers, but also real field heroes. Pea and bean plants can collect nitrogen from the air through interaction with certain bacteria in their roots. With their cultivation, farmers can also naturally improve their soil – without any artificial fertilizers.
Upside down world: avocados are supposed to be berries – but strawberries are not?
Yes, because the avocado tree is one of the laurel plants, although its fruits are rather creamy and hearty. What we eat as strawberries are so-called “pseudo-fruits” – the actual fruits, or nuts, are the tiny dots on their surface.
The pomegranate owes its name to the following effect: when it falls to the ground as a ripe fruit, it bursts open and widely scatters its seeds. In addition to a large number of vitamins, they also contain minerals such as potassium and magnesium – and are therefore real nutrient bombs.
They are similar in name, origin and appearance – but in fact, the potato and the sweet potato are not related to each other. The potato plant, a nightshade plant, thrives well here in Germany and is – apart from its popular tuber – inedible and poisonous. The sweet potato is different: the morning glory plant, whose leaves can be prepared like spinach, prefers warmer climates. We obtain our organic sweet potatoes mainly from Spain.
Coconuts can save lives: In World War II, injured soldiers stationed in the Pacific lacked blood plasma donations. The solution came “from above” in the truest sense of the word: the sterile coconut water contained in coconuts is isotonic and has a nutrient content similar to that of blood plasma. In addition, it is free of bacteria and dirt and could therefore replace the urgently needed blood donations for the soldiers.
An important product for us is the organic lime. We work together with a smallholder cooperative in Colombia. The cultivation areas are at an altitude of 800-1200 m, which is the optimla growing condition for limes for optimal quality and a good balance between protective skin and high juice content.
Melons are vegetables? That’s right. Although most associate the taste of melons with fruit, the annual, ground-level plants are officially classified as cucurbits. Thanks to their juicy sweetness, they have conquered the fruit shelves in the supermarket. Helpful advice: The tapping test helps to find out whether a melon is ripe: A hollow, dark sound promises a good degree of ripeness.
With or without fur? We owe the trials and tribulations of nature that we now have the choice between nectarines and peaches. Because the nectarine is a natural mutation of the peach. As such, she has gained many fans over the years not only for her smooth finish but also for her slightly more pronounced sweetness.
Cooked spinach shouldn’t be reheated – is that true? Yes, because the nitrate contained in spinach can be converted into nitrite, which is harmful to our health. In organic farming, additional fertilization with nitrate and many other substances is prohibited – one more reason why organic spinach is the better choice.
The tomato has become an integral part of our diet: every German eats around 28 kilograms a year. The popular fruit vegetable originally comes from Latin America and was only brought to Europe by Columbus in the 15th century. Here the tomato initially eked out its existence as a decorative ornamental plant, until the Italians discovered in the 17th century that the pretty “love apple” (pomo d’amore, short: pomodoro) can also be eaten. We source our organic tomatoes not only from Italy but also from Spain and the Netherlands.
With the grape, a “natural mishap” – namely a mutation in which some fruits did not contain any seeds – became a real marketing success: These days, there are more grapes without seeds than with seeds in many supermarkets. The fact that seedless and therefore “barren” grapes did not simply die out is because we humans cultivated them and thus kept them alive.