Seasonal fruit and vegetables in Catalonia, month by month

Supermarkets sell tomatoes in January and oranges in July. They exist, but they've either travelled a long way or grown under heated plastic at real energy cost. A seasonal calendar is the simplest way to eat better and more cheaply, without reading a single label.

Why the calendar matters

• It tastes better. Produce picked ripe and sold nearby is nothing like something that ripened in cold storage.
• It costs less. When something's in season there's plenty of it, and the price drops on its own.
• It pollutes less. No long transport, no heated greenhouse.
• It supports local farmers. Buying Catalan tomatoes in July is what makes sure there are tomato fields again next year.

The calendar, month by month

January. Artichoke, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, leek, celery, escarole, spinach, pumpkin, orange, clementine, kiwi, keeping-quality pear.

February. Much the same winter line-up: artichokes at their best, calçots (Catalan spring onions), cabbages of every kind, turnips, blood orange.

March. Last of the artichokes and calçots, first peas and broad beans, asparagus, tender lettuce, early strawberries.

April. Broad beans, peas, asparagus, young garlic, lettuces, chard, strawberries at their peak.

May. Cherries, loquats, first apricots, green beans, courgette, lettuce, spring onion.

June. Cherries, apricot, peach, nectarine, early melon, tomato, courgette, pepper, cucumber.

July. The most abundant month: every kind of tomato, aubergine, pepper, courgette, green beans, peach, nectarine, melon, watermelon, early figs.

August. Summer continues: tomato, aubergine, pepper, figs, early grapes, melon, watermelon, plums.

September. The turn of the season. Last of the good tomatoes, aubergine, peppers for roasting, grapes, figs, plums, first apples.

October. Pumpkin, sweet potato, mushrooms, chard, spinach, broccoli, grapes, quince, pomegranate, persimmon, first clementines.

November. Pumpkin, sweet potato, cabbage, cauliflower, artichoke, leek, persimmon, pomegranate, orange, kiwi.

December. Artichoke, cabbages, escarole, celery, pumpkin, orange, clementine, keeping-quality pear and apple.

How to use it without overcomplicating things

• Shop first, decide the menu after, not the other way round.
• If something's very cheap at a farmers' market, it means there's plenty of it and it's at its best.
• When a vegetable comes into season, repeat it with different preparations. It's what we do with the canteen menus, and it's what makes children genuinely get to know it.
• Freeze or preserve when there's a glut: August tomatoes keep you going all winter.

Certified and in season aren't the same thing

A product can be sustainable and still have travelled five thousand kilometres. And a farmer in the Vallès might work without any certificate at all, purely because of the paperwork cost, and do it impeccably. Our approach is to look at both, and when we have to choose, always ask who grew it and where.