Community Garden Connections
Garden Resource Hub
Seasonal Eating/Cooking
Eating seasonally is not always easy when supermarkets stock globally sourced fruit and vegetables year-round. However, efforts to eat what is in season as well as local, not only tastes better, but is more nutrient dense, ecologically sound, and supports your local farming community.
Seasonal Eating/Cooking
Printable Resources and Websites:
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New Hampshire Harvest of the Month: Harvest of the Month is a program of New Hampshire Farm to School in the Granite State that promotes healthy, seasonal eating while supporting the local economy. Harvest of the Month focuses on getting healthy, seasonally appropriate foods in school lunches. Check out the website for more information on seasonal crops, associated healthy recipes, and how to engage children and youth in healthy eating and living.
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Vermont Harvest of the Month: The program on which New Hampshire Harvest of the Month is based. Check out the website for even more healthy recipes and seasonal eating resources.
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Massachusetts Grown Produce Availability Calendar: This chart from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources shows what local agricultural products are available throughout the year.
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New Hampshire Harvest Season: This chart from UNH Extension details what fruits and vegetables are locally available in New Hampshire throughout the year.
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North America Eat the Seasons: This website shows on a weekly and monthly basis what is in-season in North America. While not as locally or regionally focused, eating seasonally in North America means vegetables and fruits are likely fresher, more nutritionally dense, and require less fossil-fuel-intensive transportation than foods sourced from around the world.
Books:
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Peterson, J. (2006). Farmer John's Cookbook: The real dirt on Vegetables - seasonal recipes and stories from a community-supported farm. Gibbs Smith Publishing, Layton, UT.
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FairShare CSA Coalition. (2004). From asparagus to zucchini: A guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce. (3rd ed). Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT.
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Ly, L. (2015). The CSA cookbook: No-Waste recipes for cooking your way through a Community Supported Agriculture box, farmers' market, or backyard bounty. Voyageur Press, Minneapolis, MN.
There are a number of CSA, local, and seasonally inspired cookbooks - explore and find one that works for you!
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
Community Supported Agriculture is a program run by increasingly small, local farms. Individuals purchase a CSA share from a farm at the beginning of the growing season. This advance purchase is an investment in the farm allowing farm managers to pay for the supplies and labor needed to produce food. When harvesting begins, CSA members receive (oftentimes) weekly baskets of farm fresh produce. A CSA membership is typically more cost-effective than purchasing local, organic fruits and vegetables at the supermarket or farmer's market. Given that farms only hand out what is ready to harvest, a CSA is a great way to eat seasonally and locally while supporting your local economy and farm community.
CSA Directories:
