Eating with the Seasons
Seasonal food means lower transport distances, shorter storage times and less intensive agriculture, all of which reduce the energy required to get food onto our plates. It also means fruits and vegetables that are fresher, and consequently healthier, as well as cheaper. Eating seasonally means not only eating that which is regionally available, but also having a varying diet according to the time of year, and so being more in tune with the rhythm of the seasons. Finally, it involves rediscovering the excitement that comes with new season produce, whether the first tender young greens of spring, the first strawberry of summer or the first apple of autumn.
We have become accustomed to having the most exotic produce available all year round, and have swapped the joy of the short Victoria plum season for having blueberries for breakfast every day. This availability, rather than broadening our diet, can easily narrow it as with everything on the shelves all of the time, we tend to buy the same small selection of produce each time we shop. Going back to only eating seasonal, regional fruit and vegetables would involve a huge change in our eating habits, and we have almost certainly lost many of the skills necessary to do so. However, by increasing the amount of seasonal produce that we buy, or by using it as a foundation in our cooking, we can enjoy a diet that is healthier, more sustainable, more varied and more exciting.
The organic season is often shorter than that of conventional agriculture, as some of the intensive, hot house methods used to get very early season produce are not permitted. It more closely reflects the “real” season for each fruit or vegetable, fitting in as it does with the annual cycle of growing, flowering and fruiting.
Spring
Spring is the true start of the New Year, a time of change, new growth and budding forwards. Early spring has always been a lean time for produce, as the last of the winter roots, stored apples and squashes have gone, but the new green shoots are yet to arrive. Soon enough though, spring greens appear, and there is plenty of new season, young, leafy vegetables.
The two treats of spring come at the beginning and the end, with purple sprouting broccoli in March, and asparagus in May. Both have very abundant, but quite short peak seasons, and we should over-indulge in them while we can. They are perfect simply steamed with a little butter, but are also very good in a gratin, or enjoyed with the first of the new season eggs. Easter was a time for eggs long before we had chocolate, as the hens would start laying again in the warmer weather. Even though we now have eggs all year round, hens that are truly free range will have been out foraging for the new green shoots, and the bugs that live on them, and this extra nutrition makes spring a good time for eggs.
Summer
Over time the green shoots of spring grow and blossom into the fruits of summer, providing us with peas, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, and soft fruits – light, water-rich foods that are perfect for the long, hot days. To add even more variety to summer salads, we also see the first crops of young root vegetables, such as radishes and new potatoes.
For most of us, early summer is the time for strawberries; for the British one of the few fruits that has retained a sense of seasonality. Indeed, strawberries announce the arrival of the long, glorious summer fruit season that progresses through raspberries, cherries, blackberries and plums to the first crop of apples, each season giving way to the next in perfect order.
Autumn
While spring brought the start of the growing season for most crops, autumn brings the end of it. The very end of summer and beginning of autumn is a gluttony of riches, the time of harvest festivals and giant vegetable competitions, when we celebrate the richness of the year’s crop. It is also a time of pickling, bottling and preserving as gardeners find they have more than they can eat.
Marking the end of summer and the start of winter, autumn also brings the transition from summer to winter crops. We have the last of the fruits and nuts; plums, apples, pears, cobnuts, chestnuts and finally the pumpkins and squashes with their thick skins that are able to stand the cold for longest. At the same time there are more and more of the wintry root vegetables and hardy greens. During autumn as the nights draw in, we start to think of heartier, warming foods, of roast chestnuts and pumpkin soups.
Winter
During winter, most life takes place below ground, where it is warmer, and many plants and animals rely on stored foods. Squirrels dig up hidden nuts, while we dig up a rich variety of root vegetables from beetroot to parsnips to celeriac, full of nutrients and energy that the plant had put into cold storage. These are actually at their best after a good frost, which makes them sweeter. There are also a few sturdy greens that thrive in the winter, so the cold weather brings us Brussels sprouts, leeks, chard, kale and cabbages.
Owing to their hardy nature, winter crops need more cooking than the leaves and fruits of previous seasons, so winter is the time for mashing and roasting, for stews and casseroles, and for long evenings spent cooking by the fire. It is the season for roast parsnips, mashed celeriac and leek and potato soup; for more nourishment with which to withstand the cold. As we then come out of winter, we once again look forward to the tender spring greens and vegetables that are promised by the lengthening days and warmer weather.