Real Foods is committed to buying organic fruit and vegetables in season and as local as we can get it. Belhaven Fruit Farms who supply us with some soft fruits have informed us that whilst they've a few more weeks of strawberries, the raspberries will come to an end quite soon! Since when one thing comes to an end, another begins, we thought it was time for a quick rundown of the best fruit and vegetables September and October have to offer, and a couple of recipes to get you eating seasonably.
Coming into September it's still bramble season. The blackberries will be out for another month or so and you can
find them here in our webshop. On the other hand, it's the perfect time to go brambling. Grab a bag and an umbrella (handy to hook branches out of the way) and head off! Avoid the heavily polluted areas and busy roadsides and head for woods, canals and the odd bit of scrubland. You won't even need to leave the city! Have fresh with a sprinkling of sugar, or freeze and store for adding to pies and crumbles throughout the year.
The
courgettes in September are also excellent. Simply slice finely, dress with a little lemon and olive oil and add a little chopped chilli and seasoning. They're also brilliant in quiches and omelettes. A favourite with many people is to grill or fry them on a griddle, pop a little parmesan and plenty of black pepper over them and have them to accompany your meal. We also have
romanesco cauliflower (also known as coral broccoli) which looks almost fractal in its patterning, it makes beautiful crudités.
Moving into October
the sweetcorn is out in full force and delicious. There's very little that beats just boiled corn on the cob with a little butter. Even kids like it! Or try making an easy salsa by blackening the corn, slicing off the kernels and adding your own mixture (we recommend lime, tomato, chilli and mint). Try our
recipes section for salsa recipes to get some inspiration.
There's also an array of
great organic apples to try. The
Juliets (red on yellow, quite mild and sweet) and
Lenas (green, slightly tart and crunchy) are available from now, right on through September, or try Coxs in October for a sharper taste. We're also getting in the Worcester Pearmains in a few weeks, along with Red Windsors. Lovely simply to snack on, apples are also perfect for making crumbles and pies, so when the nights start drawing in you'll have a comforting food to curl up with!