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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:
- A glut of over-ripe berry fruit can be used to make preserves or to flavour vodka and gin.
Apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums are also delicious and in season.
- Fruit and Vegetables: asparagus, aubergines, broad beans, cherries, courgettes, elderflowers,
gooseberries, lettuce, peas, peppers, redcurrants, strawberries, tayberries
Meat, Poultry, Game: Welsh lamb
Fish: crab, grey mullet, salmon
VEGETABLES
- Continue to sow salad crops in the soil
- Complete planting Brussels Sprouts, Leeks and Winter Cabbages
FRUIT:
-
It’s time to start enjoying all your hard work! This month you will be harvesting raspberries
and strawberries, currants and cherries. Prepare your freezer to receive the glut by emptying it as much as you can; to freeze
berries, arrange them on a tray so they don’t touch and put straight in the freezer. After a couple of hours, remove
the tray and bag up the berries – this way they keep their shape. This month you can also help to ensure a healthy harvest
by thinning apples and pruning gooseberry branches to a point just after the last cluster of berries.
Lawn care Summer:
As temperatures rise and we move into summer the growth of your lawn may actually
start to slow down, mow as and when necessary never taking more than one third of the length of the grass off in any one cut.
As always a sharp lawnmower blade is essential. If temperatures become very hot your lawn will become stressed and it may
be necessary to cut back on the
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