Eating with the seasons is one of the best ways to get the optimum nutrition and taste from your food. But when you’re sitting in that restaurant or visiting your local shop, how do you know which of the foods on offer are actually in season right now?

Well, if you have an iPhone, you can now find out at the touch of a button with ‘Seasons’, a new iPhone app created by Christian Klotz and Saskia Schmidt.

Behind the Seasons App

Christian and Saskia are passionate about eating with the seasons and used to go to farmers’ market every week. They started their iPhone app just for fun, but it soon blossomed into an indispensable guide to seasonal fruit and veg – a harvest calendar for the whole year that you can put in your pocket.

After completing their first calendar – a guide to the German fruit and veg season – they continued to cover the different growing seasons of the UK, Ireland, France and the US. Now, using GPS/WLAN, the finished app will auto detect the region you are in and covers West and Central Europe, UK and Ireland, the US and Canada.

How Does it Work?

If you click the star icon, you’ll get a complete overview of what fruits and vegetables should be available right now. You’ll be given several categories to choose from, from a screen featuring four stacked pallets. From here you can find food at the beginning of its season, food in season, food at the end of its season and food that is always in season.

Touch the relevant pallet section and you’ll be given a list of the foods available in that category, each with a photograph for easy identification. Select a food and you will be presented with further information on its growing season, history and uses.

As well as finding foods in season right now, the Seasons app also gives you the choice of searching by month, category and keyword. This is really handy if you want to plan in advance.

Gardeners will also find it a handy tool for helping them plan their crops to make the best use of their plot.

In all the app covers 170 foods spanning fruits, vegetables, lettuces, herbs, fungi and nuts.

How to Get the Seasons iPhone App

If you are interested in the Seasons iPhone app you can find out more information about it here. The app is currently being sold for just £1.19 ($1.99/€1.59) from the Apple App Store and through iTunes.

At supermarkets we can get most fruits and vegetables all-year round no matter what the season, but buying out of season comes at a price, including lower nutritional quality and greater burden on the environment.

Greater Nutrition

If you are looking for the greatest taste and nutritional benefit it is unlikely that you’ll find the answer on your supermarket shelves. Food grown locally – which is able to reach you within hours of being picked – will give you the most nutritional value.

The reason for this is that from the moment fruit and vegetables are harvested they begin to lose nutrients. This doesn’t bode well for food that is flown or shipped from abroad, which not only takes longer to reach our stores, but also undergoes extra handling, packaging and storage all of which can degrade its quality.

How to Find Local Food

You can use websites such as Local Food Advisor to find food growers and suppliers close to where you live – and you could be surprised at what is just around the corner from you. Fill in the quick search form on the home page and you’re sure to make some discoveries!

You may also find that there is a regular farmers’ market near you. Check out the Certified Farmers’ Markets website to locate markets near you. At the farmers’ market you’ll find food sold by the farmer who grew it and who probably harvested it earlier that day – it will be seasonal and fresh, and you should notice a difference in the taste.

Another way to ‘eat local’ is to organise a veg box delivery. Some of the most well-known companies that do this in the UK include Riverford and Abel and Cole, and you can even get a veg box from your milkman.

What’s in Season When?

Before supermarkets, more people grew their own fruit and vegetables out of necessity or bought from local stalls and shops filled with fresh supplies from local farmers. We all knew what was in season back then, but these days we’ve lost touch.

Luckily, today there are a number of websites that can tell us what’s in season when. Jamie Oliver’s website has a handy table which shows the seasons of around 50 popular foods, including fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and seafood. A similar chart can be found on the website The Time is Ripe.

If you have an iPhone you can have all this information on the move with the Seasons iPhone app.

If you don’t already grow your own or buy local, give it a go and see if you notice a difference. I believe that buying local food in season is the way to go if you want to get the best taste and nutritional value from your food. As well as avoiding all the negative aspects of buying out of season, you will be supporting your local farmers and other food producers, too.

It’s amazing how fast radishes grow. This YouTube video brilliantly captures the germination and sprouting process. The camera was set to take one frame every 14 minutes, 24 seconds over 9 days.

At supermarkets today we can get most fruits and vegetables all-year round no matter what the season. Convenient, yes, but what are we really getting when we choose to buy out-of-season fruit and veg?

Buying produce that would normally be out of season in our country means that it has either been imported from another country or grown in heated greenhouses. Both processes create carbon emissions, which is bad news for the environment.

Extra Food Miles

In the 1990s the term ‘Food Miles’ was coined by Dr Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at London’s City University. Food Miles refers to the distance a foodstuff has travelled from the farm to our plate, which is then calculated in terms of impact on the environment.

Food Miles don’t take in to account all the energy and materials used in growing, processing and packaging the food, but it does give us environmental food for thought.

For example, planes that import food generate 177 times more emissions than ships, but whichever way food arrives in our country it is then transported by HGV to the depot and then to the store. The final trip is the one you take to and from the supermarket.

In the UK, the transportation of food alone is responsible for 25% of the distance clocked up by HGVs. Buying food grown in your local area can cut this down dramatically, however this may not always be the case if you buy your local food from a supermarket.

Even food grown down the road from you may have had to travel to the supermarket’s central distribution depot before it comes back again to be put on the shelves in your store.

I am only scratching the surface of the environmental impact of out-of-season foods here, but if you want to know more, the article ‘Food Miles’ by Caroline Stacey on the BBCs Food pages expands on the issue.

Ever-Decreasing Nutrients

Other factors of importing fruit and veg, are the time it takes and the handling and storage that is involved. These can all affect the nutritional content of the food.

From the moment fruit and vegetables are harvested they begin to lose nutrients and taste. You’ll know this yourself if you’ve ever ‘grown your own’.

A carrot eaten minutes after being pulled from the ground is vibrant in colour, smells amazing, is crisp, juicy and full of taste. Each day that that carrot sits in a fridge, box or shelf, affects its quality. Its colour becomes dull as it begins to dry out, it loses its smell and taste, and eventually it becomes bendy. The invisible side-effect of this is the loss of nutrients.

Fruit and veg that has been imported can sit in storage containers, trucks or on supermarket pallets for days and weeks. During this time it can be exposed to oxygen, light and heat, all of which will rob nutrients.

Modified for Transport

Because food can spoil in the transportation process, through bruising from handling and packing, many fruits and vegetables have been modified to help them better survive the journey.

These modification have included thicker skins (which doesn’t do any favours for the taste) and changes to shape and size so they can fit more uniformly into their boxes.

Is it Really so Convenient?

So, yes, supermarkets are convenient, but when it comes to shopping for fruit and vegetables, it’s easy to see how these days more and more of us are steeping back and really starting to think about our choices.

If there was a poll for most boring vegetable surely lettuce would win a place near the top.

With this in mind, Vegging Out has taken a pledge to give this humble and largely overlooked salad vegetable a new lease of life.

The lettuce make-over began in my last post where I explored different ways to eat lettuce with 10 Tasty Lettuce Recipes. My hope is for us all to banish those cold and uninspiring lettuce and tomato salads in favour of something a little more adventurous.

So . . . what else is there to say about lettuce?!

Lettuce Opium

One of the most interesting things about lettuce can be found in its stem.

Break the base of your lettuce stems and you should see a milky fluid appear. When dried, this fluid, best seen in the wild Lactuca virosa species of lettuce, is called ‘lactucarium’. Lactucarium is also known as ‘lettuce opium’ because it has a sedative quality.

Lactucarium was popular in the 19th century, but it was discovered and used way before that. The Romans and Egyptians took advantage of the lettuce’s opium-like properties by eating it at the end of a meal to put them to sleep.

Lettuce – the Natural Diuretic

Lettuce is a good choice for those suffering from water retention and bloating because it is highly diuretic.

Diuretics help the body to eliminate sodium and water, which is why they are often prescribed by doctors to lower the blood pressure of those with hypertension. However, diuretics can also rob the body of essential minerals such as potassium and magnesium.

The good thing about lettuce is that it couples its diuretic properties with a good dose of minerals, including manganese, chromium, potassium, iron, phosphorus and calcium.

The best way to use lettuce as a diuretic is to juice half to a whole head and drink on its own or mixed with other vegetable or fruit juices such as spinach, carrot, garlic or apple (that’s not a recipe by the way!). It’s easier to juice a hard-headed variety such as iceberg.

Lettuce – for Natural Beauty

Lettuce contains nutrients that are important for maintaining healthy skin. Here’s a few ways you can use it in your beauty routine:

• Lettuce cleansing lotion – Just two ingredients, lettuce and tincture of benzoin, make a lotion for cleansing skin.
• Homemade vegetable toner – Juice up cucumber, lettuce, lemon juice and tomato, refrigerate then use as a refreshing skin toner.
• Lettuce sunburn reliever – Find out how you can use lettuce to provide natural relief from sunburn.

Nutrients in Lettuce

According to the World’s Healthiest Foods, lettuce contains excellent quantities of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, manganese, chromium as well as very good quantities of potassium, molybdenum, fibre, vitamin B1, iron, vitamin B2, phosphorus, and good quantities of calcium, tryptophan, vitamin B3 and vitamin B6.

[Photo by skylarprimm from Flickr.]

Lettuce – like the radish – is another one of those vegetables that people associate with salad and salad only. And even though the lettuce has got a lot going for it (especially if you’re a rabbit) it doesn’t inspire too much creativity in the kitchen.

Lettuce deserves a make-over, and that’s what we will give it, right here, right now!

Here are ten tasty lettuce recipes to try:

(And here’s a handy link for converting cup measurements)

1• Lettuce soups: Lettuce and Garlic, Chive Soup or Watercress and Lettuce Soup or Gordon Ramsay’s Pea, Mint and Lettuce Soup with Parma Ham

Fresh, full of flavour and nutrients – and surprisingly filling (especially with a lovely crusty bread roll).

2• Jamie Oliver’s Favourite Winter Salad

A much tastier twist on your normal lettuce-based salad, including anchovies, lemon, watercress, halloumi and pomegranate. I can see why it’s a ‘favourite’.

3• Asian-style lettuce: Asian Lettuce Wraps or Chinese Chicken and Mushroom Lettuce Cups

Use your lettuce leaves Asian style and fill them with beef or chicken, and a bit of Asian spice.

4• Caramalised Pork Over Lettuce

A sweet pork dish with a hint of aromatic cinnamon. Can be served with rice.

5• Lettuce Wedges with Creamy Dressing

Soooo simple. Sooo refreshing. A great vegetarian starter or side dish. The dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance.

6• Lettuce, Carrot and Cucumber Juice

This will refresh you on a hot day and give you a great nutrient boost on any day! It’s alkaline, so good for inflammation, and reviving, making it the perfect drink for those ‘tired out’ days.

7• Strawberry, Pecan, Lettuce Salad

Yes, OK, it’s lettuce in a salad . . . but it *is* a strawberry and pecan salad. Strawberries and pecans!! Mmm mmmmm!

8• Lettuce Boats with an assortment of fillings

An alternative to the lettuce wrap . . . lettuce boats! Fill them with all sorts of chicken, tuna or prawn mixes. Great ideas for starters. Most can be served warm or cold.

9• Tangy Lettuce Slaw

You’ve heard of coleslaw . . . well this is the lettuce version! Choose your favourite lettuce and add Dijon mustard, lemon, mayonnaise, cucumber, celery and salt.

10• Pickled Lettuce – Sweet and Sour (Parve)

A gentle version of sauerkraut. Great as a side dish or in a sandwich.

[Photo by quinnanya from Flickr.]

I am conscious that many of the visitors to Vegging Out are from the United States, so for this post I wanted to focus on finding local fruit and vegetable suppliers in the US. I’ve been searching the internet high and low and here are the best three websites that I’ve found so far.

Find Places Where You Can ‘Pick Your Own’ in the US

PickYourOwn.org helps you find farms in your area where you can pick your own fruits and vegetables. The site also gives you picking tips, plus instructions on how to preserve your fruits and veg, as well as recipes for jams, soups, sauces, ice cream and more.

To find a Pick Your Own farm near you, click on your state then narrow the search to your local area using their maps and links.

I worked in the United States for a year, so I chose the place I worked in Pennsylvania for my test. I located a strawberry farm and a blueberry farm, which also sold homemade pies, cakes, muffins, jams and jellies.

Search For Local Farmers Markets in the US

The United States Department of Agriculture’s website for Agricultural Marketing Services, provides a service called the ‘Farmers Market Search’. They aim to maintain a current listing of farmers markets throughout the US.

Simply use the search fields to find markets in your area. Again, I used my Pennsylvanian example to see how the site worked and found the Wayne County Farmers Market in Honesdale, which is open from May to October from 9am to 1pm. Full addresses and phone numbers are also supplied.

Discover Farms and Other Food Producers in Your State

Local Harvest is a community style website with lots to offer, including a ‘Food/Farm Event’ calendar, a regular newsletter and a forum.

In the ‘Farms’ tab I searched for Honesdale in Pennsylvania and found 16 entries, which included growers of a range of fruits, vegetables, nuts and mushrooms, plus a wheatgrass grower, an alpaca farm and a flower market.

I found an interesting time-lapse video on YouTube, which shows how fruit and vegetables degrade over a period of 74 days. One photograph was taken every 40 minutes to make this film, which is replayed at 30 frames per second.

You can find out how this video was made at Henry’s Webiocosm Blog.

The last time I photographed the progress of my radish seeds was 13 days after planting. 29 days later, this is the result.

The seedlings pictured in the previous photo have gone to the great vegetable patch in the sky after being dug up by one of the animals in the neighbourhood. Luckily I planted two rows.

I have been so concerned with finding ways to discourage animals from the radish patch that I neglected the next crucial stage in seed growing – thinning the seedlings out.

My efforts on the animal-front seem to have been quite successful though.

How to Get Animals Off the Vegetable Patch

First I put down some twigs, which worked fairly well, although some of the radishes still got dug up – and while less pooh appeared after that, I did notice a few poohs of both the fox and dog variety (the things you learn growing up in the country!).

My next plan of action was to put down some used, dried tea bags each with several drops of Olbas oil. I was given this tip by my mum who took it from a calendar.

I don’t think I’ve seen any excrement since I put the tea bags down. I do have to refresh the Olbas oil every now and then, but at around £2 from my local supermarket, this is cheaper than any ‘Dog Away’ type products you can get in the garden centre – and hopefully it’s more gentle on the ground.

Since I took this photo, I have thinned out the weedier plants to give the stronger ones more space to grow – I hope it’s not too late . . .

1• Chilli Tomato Jelly

Use to accompany cheese or white fish, add to pasta or bread. Packed with antioxidants from tomato, lemons and chillies. (www.waitrose.com)

2• Rosemary Tomato Tart With Creamed Goats Cheese

Tomato on a bed of puff pastry, flavoured with rosemary and scrumptious goats cheese. A great starter dish. (Marie Claire Australia)

3• Sausages and Green Lentils With Tomato

The Italian take on sausage and mash. Good, hearty, casual food. Serve in a bowl and tuck right in. (www.jamieoliver.com)

4• Roasted Tomato Soup With Crispy Bacon

Onions, garlic and bacon add a tasty touch to this sweet, roasted tomato soup. (www.waitrose.com)

5• Pasta Bake

Here’s a good basic tomato and cheese pasta bake. Add to the ingredients to suit your mood, anything goes: chicken, tuna, bacon, prawns . . . (www.utterlyrecipes.com)

6• Feta, Prosciutto and Tomato Quiche

Look at the picture for this recipe and you’ll want to make it. Make it vegetarian by using veggie sausage instead. The recipes says use ‘grape’ tomatoes, but any smaller tomato, like cherry tomatoes, will do. (www.taste.com.au)

7• Fiery Tomato and Mustard Seed Chutney

A beautifully contrasting chutney for cheese, with spice courtesy of chillies, ginger and mustard seeds. (www.waitrose.com)

8• Chilled Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

A silky smooth soup that dazzles the tastebuds with robust flavours of roasted peppers and tomatoes, and a warming touch of ginger. Serve chilled. (www.bbc.co.uk)

9• Awesome Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Crispy, golden, cheesy cannelloni stuffed with spinach in a tomato base. Pure gorgeousness. (www.jamieoliver.com)

10• Greek Salad

A traditional Greek salad. Perfect for summer. (www.itv.com)

Tomatoes are bursting with goodness. Find out all about the nutrients in tomatoes.