Eco Friendly House And Garden

Thinking of eating in season – but not sure what's growing in the spring?

Well, don't worry if your allotment looks a bit bald, and all your seeds say 'plant in may' – there is still plenty of tasty food out there growing locally with the seasons.

Whether it's hearty vegetables you are after, something with a bit of flavour or something light – it is all out there waiting for you to find it – and here is a quick list to help you choose.

Fruit & Veg:

It is spring – so spring onions are out in force – as are their larger twins, the leeks (left over in the ground from last year).  Also still in the shed from last year are my potatoes and onions with some fresh kale - just waiting for a chunky soup to be made!

photo credit: Matter = Energy

New veg just appearing on the scene and over the next few weeks are radishes and new potatoes – as well as some wildfoods like elderberry and gooseberry.

And to season – chicory, samphire, watercress and morel mushrooms!

Are You Game?

Well, needless to say there will be plenty of fresh lamb out there for a nice roast – just pop to a local farm who will no doubt be offering prime cuts of these little woolly wonders!

photo credit: brianfuller6385

Also still out there are all the local seafood specialities caught by the local fishermen along the coasts; we've got crabs, cockles and oysters a-plenty to throw into a dish for the weekend – and sardines to come in the next few weeks.

Pick Your Own…

There are plenty of wild plants out there that you could add to a meal, including wild garlic, dandilions, cleavers, chickweed and cow parsley.

And the more adventurously named nipplewort, navelwort and lesser celendine!

Obviously, before you eat anything new – check that it is safe to do so as nutrient (and toxicity) can change very quickly. For example - with lesser celandine, the leaves should only be eaten before the flowers appear!

Enjoy!

Trying To Be Seasonal – But Don’t Know What’s What?

We are so used to seeing certain fruit and vegetables on our supermarket shelves that we are not sure now which ones are in season and which ones are being shipped in from the other side of the world!

If you have your own allotment or back yard veggie patch, then you will be more than aware of which crops are available when, but there is still the question of food miles for everything else that we still buy from chain stores.

All packaged fruit and veg in stores is labelled with where it is from – but then you have the question of ‘should we be buying all that packaging in the first place’, however, those loose fruit and veg usually have no identification or use by dates.  You just pick the individual pieces you like the look of, and eat them before they look too rotten!

Obviously, buying from a local pick-your-own farm store or independent food store will usually only be selling those items that they have pulled from the surrounding fields, but even they and many larger organic home-delivery veggie-boxes contain ‘foreign foods’ like pineapples and bananas. 

They may well be in season, and they may well be organic – but they are from plantations on the other side of the planet!

Is all this right?

Well, here are a few definitions to help you make up your own mind about your shopping habits:

Seasonal:
This means that the fruit or vegetables are being grown naturally where the weather is right for their germination and subsequent growth.

This works in exactly the same way as wild flowers like daffodils.  They are waiting for the right environmental circumstances (heat/light/moisture) to burst from the ground and into flower. 

Plants grown in season are growing ‘naturally’ and so need less chemicals and fertilisers.  As they are growing in their natural climate and at the right time of year they should be healthy and easier to grow.

Non-Seasonal:
These are plants that are forced to grow in an artificial environment and therefore will use many more resources (heating/bright lights/pumped water) to flourish.  Using the same example as above – this is like trying to grow daffodils in Antarctica. 

This also highlights that non-seasonal goods can be grown almost anywhere – and this is usually in developing countries with cheaper resources. 

It is rare to find an organic product that is grown ‘out of season’ due to the articicial resources needed, which is why we move to different farmers around the globe to keep supplies of certain foods ‘in season’ – adding to air miles.

Locally Grown:
Ideally this should define foods that are grown within 12 miles (20km) of where you purchase them (which should ideally be where you live).  However, they may contain any number of chemicals and be grown out of season.

Many farm stores grown their produce around the back of their own buildings, but they do bring some further distances as and when. 

Make sure your farm store doesn’t start to morph into an independent supermarket though, and starts stocking out-of-season veg or foods from overseas to meet demand!  If enough people expect their local farm store to stock bananas – they soon will, and this surely defeats the whole point of their initial ‘local’ ethics.

Locally grown food can however, have better eco credentials than overseas organic food due to the distance imported food has to travel in the air or by road to get to the supermarkets.

See Should We Buy Seasonal Food Even If It’s Not Organic?  Part 2 for details on Organic & Fair Trade Options.