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How do I know what Fruits and Veggies are in season?
posted by pirateking42 on Mon, 2009-02-02 06:38
Hello!
How do I know what Fruits and Veggies are in season?
I know some obvious stuff like apples and squash in fall, and watermelon in summer. But there are lots of produce that I'm not sure.... People say look at the prices, but I haven't been shopping for myself much - and when I wanted strawberries in the dead of winter - I'd buy them. Now I want to be a financially sound consumer...
P.S. I live in the Northern Hemisphere - PA - USA....
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......and it was delicious!
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Berries of most sorts are in season at the beginning of summer. Stone fruits, like apricots and plums and peaches are in season towards the end of summer. Apples and pears are after that. Citrus fruits are usually in season in winter I think. Corn is usually after berries and before stonefruits. Asparagus is before berries. Carrots and parsnips are pretty much always in season. Some things, like Brussels sprouts and swede (I think you might call them rutabagas in America) are best after they've had some frost on them, so try to buy them in winter.
I just did a wee web search and found this: http://www.scribd.com/doc/301858/Fruits-and-Vegetables-in-Season which I'm pretty sure would be OK for you.
Bronwyn
My blog is Food and Shoes
Your response remindsme of those logic questions where you need to put the boys in order form youngest to oldest and they tell you all this crazy stuff lol.
That is really helpful though
.../**ONiGiRi**\...
It is a bit isn't it? It's how I remember them though - I used to eat very little fruit (often finding it disappointing), until an orchard in Central Otago started delivering orders to work. They fax through a list of what's being picked, we order what we want, and they bring it through and leave it for us. We only get what is being picked and it is scrumptious. I discovered I can easily eat a kg of cherries in an afternoon! Anyway, that made me aware of the order in which things become ripe, and I won't eat oranges until after the apples have stopped being delivered because they are nasty (imported or stored) beforehand. I know I can have asparagus for my birthday, and then the other veges just sort of slot in around the asparagus and fruit in my mind.
I like your point about the seasonal veggie/fruit calendar.
I remember back when I first got involved with amateur astronomy --one of the things which I most enjoyed was a growing sense of my place in time, my place on this particular planet. I got to where even during the day I knew where the moon was; I could find a bright planet like Venus even during a bright sunny day; I came to look forward to winter because of the constellations which rise during that season (yay Orion!).
I think I have a similar response to being a gardener and a consumer of locally grown foods. Things like apple season, trout fishing season, strawberry season (which can't come soon enough), all of these dictate not only what I eat but how my days are spent. All of this taken together gives me this deeply satisfying sense of comfort, and makes me feel more grounded, somehow.
Fruitful topic!
;-)
http://mosaica.wordpress.com
What a great question (and answer)! :)
Oh and hello Pirateking. I grew up near Pittsburgh in Fayette County. Go Steelers! ;)
The Northeast Regional Food Guide has some lists of produce that is seasonal and locally grown. Also, if you can find a green market in your neighborhood, try going there at least once a month or so...you'll get a great idea of what is actually in season, and grown in your area. At the supermarket, try to see where the stuff you are buying comes from (I know such labelling requirements vary by region and by store.)
For people in Europe, BBC Food has a great What's In Season page - this guide could be used generally for anyone in temperate northern hemisphere areas. Also, I wanted to point out this page, which is on a site run by a Swiss couple who hold highly regarded cooking classes in Zürich. They update that in season page every month, and it also is useful for temperate northern hemisphere areas.
The Big Onigiri.
- Wherever you go, there you are. -
Wow, I really love the laughinglemon site!
It's very useful for me as I live in northern Italy, so it's quite close, and I love the fact that they list the names in four different language :)
Yesterday I bought some salsify after seeing them on that site, I had never tasted them before but I like them :)
You could also learn what's in season by following the blog of someone who frequents farmer's markets, especially if yours closes during the winter. (Think the blog tableauvivante!)
Wow! Thanks for all the great info!
Yay! Steelers :)
Smelling things is a good way too tell if your not sure. A lot of fruits and vegetables smell very different in season than they do otherwise.
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