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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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What`s in season:
A bleak, cold month but the focus is often on Christmas festivities – especially the feasting.
Order your organic turkey early and don’t forget the Brussels sprouts! You can also buy organic wines, beer, cider,
spirits and liqueurs online – great for celebrating and for presents.
Fruit and Vegetables: pomegranate, celery, red cabbage, sweded, celeriac, turnips, sprouts,
turnips, beetroot, parsnips, pears
Meat, Poultry, Game: turkey, wild duck, goose
Fish: sea bass
VEGETABLES
- Continue to sow Broad Beans, protect with cloches in colder areas
- Put you feet up on the 25th !!
FRUIT:
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The dormant season is here, which means you can now prune your fruit trees and bushes. Apples and pears should be pruned
to achieve a ‘goblet’ shape, which allows maximum light to reach the branches. Start by removing any branches
that look diseased or dead, then look at the overall structure, taking out about a third of the previous summer’s growth.
Lawn care Autumn:
As the days grow shorter and the temperatures begin to fall the rate at which
the grass grows will slow, meaning that the lawn will need mowing less frequently. It is also a good idea to raise the height
of cut of the lawnmower as winter approaches. As always maintain your mower in good condition and keep the blades sharp
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