Summer is well and truly on the way; we hope the warmer weather will be too. June was a wonderful month for British Produce, and it looks although it will only get better over the next couple of months. This month we will see a variety of delicious produce arriving from our farms in the Vale of Evesham and from our trusted local growers. From perfectly crimson Strawberries to spicy Naga Chillies, we cannot wait to see some of the delights this month will brings us!
Our Farms are very busy this month, outdoor vegetable production covers over 100 acres of luscious land watered by the River Avon. We specialise in brassica production so you can expect only the best quality brassicas arriving through your doors! This month we have plenty of vegetables being harvested including Beetroot, Courgettes, Marrows, Stem Broccoli, Broad Beans, Peas, Red & White Cabbages, Cavolo Nero, Romanesco Cauliflower and Kale to name but a few. There are also plenty of baby vegetables being harvested including, baby carrots, baby turnip, baby leek, baby fennel, baby beet and baby courgette.
This year on our farms we have grown a new variety of Purple Sprouting Broccoli called Burgundy. Burgundy provides fresh and tender spears which are exceptionally easy to prepare. The heads are vibrant purple in colour with a deliciously sweet taste, they have fewer leaves than the usual varieties meaning a longer shelf-life. We are extremely excited by this new variety and think it is the bees’ knees, let us know what you think!
Everybody loves a summer BBQ, and everybody knows that with a summer BBQ comes a summer salad – whether it is consumed or not is another question. With the salad items we have arriving this month there is no need to have limp side salad with the same old dressings! There is a large variety of local lettuces available including the trusty Iceberg, Flat lettuce, Cos, Endive, Gem and Radicchio. We also have many delicious varieties of locally grown tomatoes from Haven Nurseries, from Cherry Vine to Tigerella, this year’s tomatoes look immaculate and taste divine. Why not add a bit of colour and crunch to your salads with rainbow chard fresh from our farm?
Our chillies are grown under protection in our green houses on the very fertile sandy soil which, replicate some of the warm climates that they may have traditionally been grown in to create the super-hot spice and taste. We have already harvested the first of our Fresno Chillies this month, Fresno Chillies have a cherry taste with a medium heat so are perfect all-rounders, often the first choice for a home-made salsa. Next month we will see more varieties of our chillies being harvested, but we hope we may see the first glimpses of our Birdseye, Scotch Bonnet and Naga Chillies towards the end of this month.
Berry season is well underway with availability of British strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and gooseberries looking very good this month. The strawberries, blueberries and raspberries look and taste phenomenal this year, it is definitely worth getting your hands on a punnet or two. Towards the end of this month and early next month the much-anticipated plum season will begin – hurray!! Keep your eyes on our social media pages to be the first to know when the first boxes are harvested!
Next month we look forward to welcoming even more crops from our farms including chillies, Apples, Sweetcorn and Squash. Once again, the abundance of UK Fresh Produce will increase next month, please keep your eyes on our social medias to be the first to know about UK Fresh Produce coming into stock.