If you have trouble remembering what produce is in season when, the Guardian Unlimited has put together a mnemonic device in the form of a rhyme. It’s somewhat more lengthy than “30 days hath September” and it just might be as easy to learn the seasonal cycle of produce as memorizing the entire poem.

Roots and sprouts available be
Throughout Jan and February.
Leeks, cauliflower and cabbage, too,
Can be enjoyed ere winter’s through.
Then colours come with March’s thaw:
Rhubarb, carrots (and beets from store).

But April’s menus are a riddle,
As stored crops run out in the middle;
Mere salads must your table dress
With lettuces and watercress.

May can be warm, but it is cruel;
Few things grow this month, as a rule.
But then at last some lunch appears:
New potatoes and asparagus spears!
Rejoice therefore and clap your hands;
Now is the time to slaughter lambs!

In June, the veg are in full swing,
And so are some fruits, including:
Blackcurrants, cherries and tomatoes
(They are a fruit, like avocados).
Berries too are on the loose,
The early ones, both straw and goose.

In summer, veg are hard to miss,
Thanks to photosynthesis:
Fennel, herbs, beans green and broad,
Carrots can again be stored,
Peppers, courgettes nice and chewy,
Time to make some ratatouille!

Then tree fruit with September comes
(That means apples, pears and plums.)
Soon purple things are also seen:
Red cabbage, beets and aubergine.
And now’s the time, in case you wondered,
That onions and spuds are keenly plundered.

The growing season’s nearly over
When marrow’s plucked around October,
Although this month is also big
In apples, pears and fresh-picked fig.

By Guy Fawkes night the frost is freed,
But that won’t stop the hearty swede.
Parsnips, too, the soils expel,
Some cabbages and leeks as well.
They’ll be needed, just remember,
As bugger all grows in December.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | How can you tell what’s in season?.

It’s been many years since I lived in a place where I’ve been able to plant a garden. Now that we’re in our own home, we are working on developing a garden. Last year was limited to several tomato plants and a small herb garden. This year we are going to expand on that effort.

The Urban Farmer lists some good reasons to growing your own food.

1. Great tasting, fresh, and nutritious food right outside your door.
2. Practice good “economy”.
3. Nurture your physical, emotional and spiritual health.
4. Create beautiful, aesthetically pleasing spaces.
5. Conserve wilderness, natural areas, and bio-diversity.
6. Connect with your own bio-region.
7. Learn and preserve endangered wisdom and essential knowledge for living.
8. Contribute to world food security.
9. Help to preserve diverse seed stocks.
10. Reduce climate change.

Read the entire article at The Urban Farmer ~ Edible Landscaping

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