There is more to eating seasonally than you think?

Using seasonal food and ingredients are near to my heart , mainly because I am nostalgic about that way of living , I think it’s a way of life that we can miss out on and it gives us a reason to be grateful .

It gives me grounding and an appreciation of whats in front of me, whatever is going on in my life, the seasons are always there, never changing (at the moment ...buts that's a completely different blog all together!)

My grandparents , even my parents grew their own vegetables. I grew up knowing what was seasonal fruit and veg , for that I am really grateful , even though at the time I remember thinking how many more broad beans can we eat? Now I am so glad I can remember those first tiny soft tender beans on the Plate and on the flip side remember the big tough beans at the end of the season.

Everyone ate seasonally, there was very little option.

I suppose my life started set by the seasons where we looked forward to fresh new food hitting our plates, I vividly remember the first week of strawberry season maybe because it coincided with the nearing of the end of the school term or memories of being paid £20 a day to pick strawberries at the local strawberry farm , I still get that excitement come June ….A warm sunlight strawberry tastes like nothing else .

To keep excess food from being wasted , food was pickled or made into Jams or given to neighbours, Pantries were stocked full of copious amounts of labelled jars, looking somewhat like a biology lab with all sorts floating in dark coloured fluids.

There were local community shops that made and sold their produce, Grocers, Bakers, fishmongers that were the centre of communities, shopping was on the whole done daily which is something I wouldn't want to go back to but it mean't it facilitated the community spirit where people knew and cared for eachother, this created in turn a sense of wellbeing and crucially support networks and alongside it a sense of belonging, purpose and fulfilment.

I wouldn't want to go back to a traditional family senario where male and female roles were set, its such a positive to have the choice, but we can incorperate this way of seasonal living,buying and eating to what I believe can enrich our lives and our future generations.

What foods do you remember from childhood?

What memories do they envoke today?