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Details:
Eating seasonally has dramatic and far-reaching implications. For a start,
the food is less likely to have travelled as far to meet demand. Think of apples - in season for a very short time, September
and October - yet they appear on our supermarket shelves day in, day out. These apples have been flown over from the USA,
South America, New Zealand... By only eating food when it is in season in our own country, we are helping to contribute to
a greener environment by saving food miles.
Eating seasonal food also means that we begin to understand our food better,
and appreciate the fruits of each season. It is, if you think about it, completely natural to enjoy sweet and fruity tomatoes
and strawberries in August; and the more dense and earthy root vegetables such as turnips and squash in January. To eat seasonally
is to eat the food we should crave naturally!
It is really tough to get used to eating seasonally, as we have all become
used to eating what we want, when we want it, irrespective of seasonality. Here is a month-by-month guide to seasonal food
in the UK to get you going:
SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Is it practical to eat only seasonal
food? Here's our three-point plan to eating/buying and cooking food with a clear conscience as far as the seasons are concerned...
1) You can eat an awful lot more seasonal food. You can eat salad leaves
in summer and through to early autumn and we can eat British asparagus, strawberries and tomatoes in summer; new potatoes
in early summer; and cabbage in autumn. It's tasty, nutritious and it saves fuel for transporting vegetables.
2) You can try cutting out some imported food. For example, stick to
traditional British apples, rather than foreign varieties. Have a go at preserving more food through traditional methods such as pickling (ideal for onion or red cabbage), by using
seasonal produce in chutneys and jams or by freezing (great for Bramley apple pies, apple sauces, vegetable soups etc).
3) Finally you can realise that non seasonal foods should be seen as
an occasional treat, rather than part of everyday cooking. Those Kenyan mange tout may be just what you want to give a bit
of variety to your diet in the middle of winter, but it seems wrong to eat them during the rest of year when there are excellent
seasonal alternatives, grown in this country.
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WHATS IN SEASON:
- Eat your greens! Cabbage, chicory, leeks and spring greens are plentiful and will give you
nutrients to help protect against colds. Rhubarb is available now – great for crumbles, jams, fools and puddings.
- Fruit and Vegetables: cabbage, celeriac, chicory, forced rhubarb, leeks, parsnip, shallots,
squash
Meat, Poultry, Game: goose, guinea fowl
Fish: halibut, lobster, mussels
VEGETABLES
-
- Continue to sow Early Peas and Broad Beans in mild areas
- Sow early Carrot seeds in a cold frame
- Sow Bulb Onions and Lettuces under glass
- Sow Beetroot, Spinach and Carrots in the soil, protect with cloches
- Sow Parsley in the soil unless the weather is cold or wet
FRUIT:
-
Now’s the perfect time to plant your fruit trees. Expect to receive any that you have ordered,
and try to plant them as soon as they arrive – trees are usually delivered with bare roots. To plant, choose a dry day
if possible. Dig a hole that’s at least twice as big as the spread of your tree’s roots. Line it with grit to
help improve drainage, and compost or rotted manure to give the tree plenty of nutrients. Fill it in, firming it gently, and
then cover the top with a deep layer of mulch to conserve moisture. Finally water the trees generously to help their roots
settle in. February is also the last month that you can prune fruit trees (except cherry and plum, which shouldn’t be
pruned in the winter months at all).
Lawn care Winter:
Only mow the lawn if necessary; this will depend upon weather
conditions and temperatures at the time. Do not use your lawnmower if heavy frosts are expected or if the ground is very wet.
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