A few thoughts about “eating seasonally” as we plan our spring and summer gardens.

As a gardener, it can be helpful to re-examine our concept of what it really means.

To eat seasonally beyond immediately consuming fresh produce, we need to think creatively—and think ahead.

I remember Whitney Otawka writing in “The Saltwater Table” that she had to find creative ways to serve tomatoes to guests of The Greyfield Inn on Cumberland Island when the inn’s garden was still producing loads of them well into the fall, when people were no longer craving that fresh, acidic summer tomato flavor.

Technically, tomatoes were still in season, but fresh and raw didn’t hit the right note. It didn’t feel like seasonal produce.

Tomatoes are an easy example, but there are many others. We may be harvesting things that feel like “summer foods” well into the fall. How can we prepare them in a way that fits the season we’re in now? 

And the other side of that question is, How can we preserve one season’s bounty in a way that we will actually want to eat in the next?

It’s good to think ahead on it, before you start deciding what to plant. It helps you maximize your harvests and actually WANT to eat all of what you’re picking.