October
Damsons
September is the peak damson season. These modest sharp plums are very multitalented, little fruits making jam jellies, cheeses and chutneys wine gin and beer as well as cordials ice cream sorbet fools and chuck a hand full into pies bread mixes and other baked pastry type things. We can attribute the discovery and introduction of damsons to the Romans Damson skins have been used for the manufacture of purple dye from Roman times Originally damsons came from the area around Damascus, hence the name. It seems those Crusaders must have wanted a bash at seeing how the damsons stones would flourish in our soil Damson trees are often found around sites of Rd at the Viking Yorvick centre at York.
They don’t like giving up their stone easily so best removed after cooking. oman camps (we have a lot to thank those Romans for) Damson stones were found in a bag round the waist of a 4000 year-old 'Ice Man' uncovered recently in the Alps. Damson stones have been excavate
Recipe: damson pickle
Celery
A member of the carrot family the homegrown celery tastes amazingly sweet. It is very difficult to find old-fashioned English 'white' celery, with its nutty flavour and snappy texture but keep hunting and asking - luckily, English growers are returning to old-fashioned methods, so if you see any muddy sticks of the new season's white celery, buy them - you will be rewarded with a scrumptious vegetable.
All celery starts out by been green, but pales if starved of light - growers pile soil around the growing plants to blank out the light. When self-blanching celery was developed, old varieties such as Ely White and New Dwarf White almost disappeared. Remove the slightly fibrous, strong-flavoured outer stalks and use them to make soup or stock and reserve the tender, mild-tasting inner stems for crunchy salads, or sautéing and adding to stuffings and juices soups and sauces the leaves are good too Celery is deliciously fresh and lends its flavour note to all dishes and tastes particularly good with salty cheese, nuts and nut oil,. Store it in the fridge, loosely wrapped, and wash thoroughly just before use. celery is Native to the Mediterranean region and cultivated there for over 3,000 years, in its wild form is called smallage, and still grown for the flavouring of its seeds. They are the dried fruit of that wild smallage, they are so tiny that it takes some 800,000 to make just one pound. They might be small but they pack a punch being intensely aromatic and strongly flavoured with oil. The ancient Greeks called it selinon and thought of it as a holy plant. It is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, dating from 850 BCE. And its leaves were worn by the winners of the Nemean Games (like bay leaves were worn by winning athletes at the Olympic and Pythian games).
Apparently Research has shown that celery contains blood pressure reducing properties. Celery contains active compounds called Phthalates, which relax the muscles of the arteries that regulate blood pressure allowing these vessels to dilate. Phthalates is also supposed to reduce stress hormones, which can cause blood vessels to constrict. Celery is also an excellent source of Vitamin C with all its health benefits. Vitamin C can help to reduce cold symptoms or the severity of cold symptoms during the winter months. Good for the old the immune system a bit of a cold buster! It comes as no surprise that Celery has a long history of use, foremost as a medicine and then as a food. No one knows if it's true, but the renownd Dutch gynaecologist Van de Velde quotes in his book ,Ideal Marriage, that celery is an effective aphrodisiac.(who knows?) Nor does anyone know if celery really does offer protection from hangovers, the romans thought it did and Medieval magicians thought that a few celery seeds placed in the shoes can help a person fly (nice idea!) True or not, rumours of humble celery power have been believed enough to win the vegetable a high-flying place on the crowns and crests of royalty.
Watercress
Most of the watercress people buy in Britain is grown in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset, the Uk's historical watercress growing regions. This scrumptious and natural "super food" has been grown commercially in the pure spring waters of southern England since the early 1800s
In Hampshire, daily deliveries of fresh watercress were railed to London to satisfy demand and the rail link became known as the Watercress Line. Nowadays, watercress is available all over the country. Its peppery leaf is excellent served with orange segments as a salad and dressed with olive oil and orange juice. It's Delicious with an omelette or scrambled eggs, or simply made into a smooth, vibrant green soup which can be served hot or cold.
Also in season
figs
elderberries
pumpkin
kale
apples
beetroot
squash
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