This month's newsletter is focusing on eating seasonally, so eating food that is available and grown locally. For example, in March in the United Kingdom we should be eating; beetroot, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, leeks, maincrop potatoes, rocket, spinach, spring onions and Swede, along with the following herbs; chives, coriander, mushrooms and curly parsley.

 

Obviously there are some other months that we would eat some of these vegetables but if they are grown and brought in the United Kingdom they will have a limited shelf life. There are many other vegetables that are at their most nutrient-dense in the spring, have a look at http://www.eatseasonally.co.uk or http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk to find out which. These websites will also tell you what the seasonal foods are for summer, autumn and winter. They have charts available for you to download which you could keep on your fridge or notice board to remind you of what foods are grown in what season! A great thing to share with your children...

Eating seasonally means that our food is fresher and is therefore much more nutritious, and tastier! It is cleaner - when we eat food that is out of season it has usually travelled a huge distance. As well as upping our carbon footprint this means that the food is picked sooner than it is ready and kept in artificial conditions depleting the nutrients. Food that has to travel also needs to be preserved and the preservatives that are usually used are toxic.

It's healthy to reconnect with nature's cycles:

In spring there is an abundance of green vegetables which are dense in chlorophyll, these are the body's best cleansers so the food we are supposed to eat in spring is for our body's 'spring clean'!
In summer there is an abundance of salads and foods that can be eaten raw and cold - these foods are quite water dense, just what we need in the hot summer weather.
In autumn, the time of harvest is when we have an abundance of wholegrains, legumes, nuts and seeds along with the harder root vegetables - nourishing foods that need to be cooked. This is nature getting us ready for the cold.
In winter, we tend to eat more of the autumn foods as we get an abundance of squashes, we also get turnip and pumpkin, and consume more dairy produce and meats as we look towards comfort, warming foods in the very cold weather.  

 A couple of very good books to look out for which are great for recipes, hints and tips on eating seasonally are:

Jamie at Home - Cook your way to the Good Life by Jamie Oliver. £25.00
As well as the usual great Jamie recipes this book has great advice on how to grow your own fruit and vegetables. It's a book that you'll want to refer to again and again!
 
Marie Claire Seasonal Kitchen by Michele Cranston. £25.00
This book is full of beautiful pictures of the great seasonal recipes that are in the book. It's a coffee table book and not one that you'll want to leave on the book shelf. We found it in WHSmith and it had been reduced to just £4.00!