In Season this month – July

Artichoke, aubergine, beetroot, broad beans, broccoli, courgettes, fennel, French beans, garlic, jersey royal new potatoes, mangetout, pak choi, peas, radishes, rocket, runner beans, samphire, spinach, spring onions, tomatoes, watercress, wild nettles, apricots, blueberries, cherries, gooseberries, greengages, kiwi fruit, melons, peaches, strawberries

Why we should eat the seasons

Every month I write about the great fruit and vegetables that are in season and the benefits of some of the great produce you can buy. There is a delicious recipe using some of the month’s fresh produce for you to try so check out my ‘recipe of the month’ which this month features rocket. Don’t forget to check me out on Instagram @suzannahjacksonnutrition and facebook for even more health tips and recipes.

So, let’s have a look at what July has in store for us. July brings us lots of lovely fresh fruit and vegetables and one of my particular favourite leaves is rocket (or arugula as it is also known).

Its sharp, peppery leaves are the perfect foil to pretty much any barbecue dish. It’s also easy to grow from seed yourself if you’re a fan – even in a window box.

Don’t forget to check out my Recipe of the Month which for July is a simple salad of rocket, parmesan, tomato, red onion and balsamic.

There are many benefits to eating seasonally, but one main reason is when you eat locally and seasonally you know you are eating the freshest, most abundantly available produce. It is better for everyone – you get the tastiest veg, the local farmer benefits and food miles (the distance our food has to travel from the farm to your fork) decreases so you get to save the environment, too. Another unexpected benefit is to reconnect to nature’s seasonal cycle. If you have children, this is especially important as it teaches that food does grow at specific times, a hard concept to grasp when imports from all around the globe ensure that supermarket shelves look the same practically every week of the year.

Where to buy seasonally

Farmers’ markets are usually a great place to find local seasonal veg, but for now consider getting an organic veg box delivered if you can. It’ll teach you super fast when food is in season, you’ll get some of the best produce available in your area and delivered to your door, and it will wake you up to the magic of cooking.

Inviting a veg box into your life forces you to try something new, and this can be very invigorating. Of course, you can pick and choose the types of ingredients you want and avoid having things added that your family hates, but I urge you to have a go and see what happens.

The following offer a huge variety of veg-only or fruit and veg boxes, some even with a ‘pick your own’ element where you can pick and choose exactly how much of what you have

https://www.riverford.co.uk/shop/veg-fruit-and-meat-boxes

https://www.abelandcole.co.uk

https://www.eversfieldorganic.co.uk

Check out my recipe of the month using ingredients that are fresh and seasonal