What fruit is in grown in England and available in March?
By Mary
Not much, unfortunately! We're in the middle of the 'hungry gap' where the winter produce is reaching its end but the spring season hasn't really started. Rhubarb is available now though, and if you're lucky you can still find English apples.
Hello Mary, here are a some home grown veg available at the moment here in the UK; leeks, purple sprouting broccoli, spring onions and of course, potatoes. I always look at the this site. Eat the Seasons. Hope this helps.
When is the best time of year to buy peaches and nectarines?
By Kathy
This is a page about buying foods in season. A great way to ensure you are getting fresh foods for your family is to shop seasonally for fruits and veggies.
The farmer's market is a great place to find both produce and unique crafts. It is also a wonderful place to take children and let them try new veggies and fruit.
Do you want the biggest berries, the reddest, the least seedy, the sweetest, the zingiest, or the ones with the firmest texture? Intended use also plays a role in berry selection. Do you want them for fresh eating, baking, or freezing?
This page is about shopping at a farmer's market. Seasonal quality foods are available for fair prices at the local farmers market.
This is a page about selecting good raspberries. Good ripe raspberries are a treat that almost no one can pass up. Whether you are picking them fresh or buying them at the market, be sure to get good flavorful raspberries that are ready to eat.
What are some of the most fun things about a farmer's market? What draws you and your family there?
By Coreen Hart from Rupert, ID
The fact that most everything is grown locally; (there are big warehouses there, where produce is shipped in daily; the farmers come in on a daily basis, and are in a different area.) The farmer's vegetables are fresher, and taste better, but sometimes you have to watch out; they'll put a gorgeous ear of corn half-opened for you to see, and think that this is what you are buying, and then when you get the corn home, it is nothing like what you thought you were getting.
Open up an ear or two in the actual bushel that you are buying. And the same with lots of other vegetables. That's mainly the reason that I grow a garden; I know what I'm getting. I like the U-Pick establishments too. Love them things, you pick it fresh, and freeze it immediately when you get home. And someone elses tractor does the work, because I don't own a tractor, or a tiller. Gardening is hard work!
I like the freshness of the product and the ability to haggle. Nothing like the taste of a bargain.
I like knowing the produce is grown nearby. I like the variety of produce and honey and baked goods and plants so I can shop for lots of things at once. I like talking to the vendors and asking questions about their stuff.
When you buy out of season, it costs you more money. When you buy in season and from your local food supplier, you are saving that money, you can buy more to freeze or can and you are helping your local economy.
Just last week we dropped by this roadside flower, fruit and veggie stand to get our fruit and veggies for the week and I spotted this lovely view.
I am just wondering how I can know if I am getting a good deal at my Farmer's Market? We only have one available near me from the first Saturday in May until the last Saturday in October. Saturdays from 9am-2pm.
About all you can do is actually compare prices. I doubt if it's possible to purchase green beans, for example, and home can them as cheaply as you can buy canned green beans in the grocery. The real advantage to farmer's market produce is the quality and freshness. In the urban area of Ohio where I live, the prices are typically higher than grocery store prices for similar fresh produce, but the quality is better. I don't know about rural areas, but for me the days of fresh farm produce "bargains" are a thing of the past.
Nikkiev, $2 a pound for fresh green beans seems very high. If you are planning on canning beans...why? After you figure in the costs of jars, lids, a pressure canner, etc, PLUS the cost of the produce, you could afford the best canned vegetables in the store. Cost-wise and time-wise, it just isn't worth it. Now, TASTE as an occasional treat, I buy fresh and cook it for the table. There IS a difference in taste. But if you buy fresh and can it, what's the difference?
Most everyone who can do it so because they have a garden and this way they can "save" their over-production for the winter months. I just can't see where you'd be ahead canning purchased produce. You can get some darn good green beans in the can for under a $1 per pound and you don't have to slave over a hot stove. Sorry. But canning just doesn't make a lot of "cents" to me.
