In Season .... July

In season ... July
Eating seasonally means eating food that is at its peak in terms of flavour and nutritional content, while at the same time cutting down on those food miles. Each month, Local Food and Drink brings you a guide to what's in season. The emphasis is on fresh and locally produced food and drink. July is all about fresh fruit Strawberries Synonymous with summer (and Wimbledon) the British strawberry season begins with the arrival of early season fruit grown under cover. Imported strawberries, now sold for most of the year, are picked whilst slightly under-ripe to ensure that they don't turn into mush during transportation. However strawberries do not ripen after being picked and so imported strawberries are often hard and have an undeveloped flavour - a pale imitation of in-season British strawberries. Source your strawberries locally for the best flavour this summer. Why not try one of these delicious strawberry recipes: Strawberry and mascarpone tart recipe - click here Strawberry smoothie - click here You could even try growing your own strawberries next Autumn / Spring See the BBC guide to growing your own and the RHS Guide to growing your own strawberries Some nutritional information for you - 1 Strawberry/12g: 3 kcal, 0.1g protein, 0.7g carbs, 0.0g fat, 0.1g fibre Cherries National Cherry Day - Saturday 18 July – click here for more information Why not visit your local Cherry Orchard? Click here to see a list and find your local one Peaches No – not Bob Geldof’s daughter – but the fruit! Peaches are full of vitamin C and are also a good source of potassium and fibre. They contain beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. This helps build a strong immune system to prevent damage from free radicals and to avert many skin diseases, as well as helping to combat the effects of aging! Grow your own peaches – click here for more information That’s all from us for July – be sure to check back in August for our new ‘In Season..’ updates. Landshare http://landshare.channel4.com/ http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/river-cottage/ Do you watch River Cottage on Channel 4? Then you might already be aware of the Landshare website and movement happening at the moment. An increasing number of people wish to grown their own produce – the Landshare website seeks to match up people with some spare land with those who want to grow but don’t have any land – click here for more information.