If you’ve been trying to eat more seasonal, local produce, then this is the blog series for you – a quick guide to the ingredients you could be using which have been grown closest to home!
Springtime is a lean period for British fruit and veg. Known as the ‘hungry gap’, it marks the end of hearty root vegetable winter crops, but comes before the first harvest of most of the new season’s veg. That being said, I still love April – as it’s also peak wild garlic season, woohoo!
SO WHAT’S IN SEASON IN THE UK IN APRIL?
Check your labels to make sure they are UK grown, and look out for gorgeous purple-sprouting broccoli, spring greens, field grown rhubarb, and new potatoes (such as Jersey Royals or Pembrokeshire Earlies).
This month also marks the start of British asparagus season, so you should be able to find UK-grown spears of my favourite vegetable in supermarkets, greengrocers and farmers markets up and down the country.
Be sure to check that it is the British stuff you’re buying; imported asparagus has a greenhouse gas emissions rating of 8.9 kilograms, by far the highest of any vegetable. All the more reason to enjoy it in abundance now, then wave goodbye to it until next spring.
Cauliflower, radishes, basil, chives, dill, rocket, samphire, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, and watercress should be available too.
Oh, and if foraging is your thing – it’s also peak wild garlic season. I’ve written about where to find the best Wild Garlic foraging patches in Cardiff, and for some ideas on how to cook with it, click here: Four Ways with Wild Garlic.
Want to source your veg as locally and sustainably as possible? Then check out my little guide to Cardiff’s numerous Veg Box Schemes. I always try to choose organic veg because I believe it’s better for the planet and better for nature; I’ve also written a blog post about why Organic food should be top of the menu in a post-covid world.
FIVE SEASONAL RECIPES TO TRY THIS MONTH
Make the most of what’s in season in April with some of these easy recipes…
- My Wild Garlic Salsa Verde
- BBC Good Food’s Roasted Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Feta & Preserved Lemon
- Gill Mellor’s Chicken, Anchovy & Asparagus Salad via Delicious Mag
- Jamie Oliver’s Simple Lemony Spring Greens
- Pete Biggs’ Wild Garlic Mayonnaise via Great British Chefs
