Cook what is good right now.

Month

1. JanuaryDeep winter

   Roots, cabbage and citrus

   Leeks, celeriac, swede and every colour of cabbage, plus stored apples. Seville oranges arrive for a few weeks, which is why marmalade belongs to January. Roast hard and braise long.
2. FebruaryDeep winter

   The last of the store

   Kale is sweeter after frost, forced rhubarb turns up pink and improbable, and the root box is emptying. Lean on pulses, preserves and anything you froze in August.
3. MarchThe hungry gap

   Purple sprouting and patience

   Winter crops are finished and the new season has not started. Purple sprouting broccoli breaks the monotony. Wild garlic appears in damp woods towards the end of the month.
4. AprilThe hungry gap

   The first green things

   Radishes, spring onions, the first outdoor herbs and forced rhubarb still going. A good month to cook from the cupboard and pay attention to what is coming up.
5. MaySpring

   Asparagus, and not for long

   Asparagus for a handful of weeks, new potatoes, lettuce, spinach. Cook less: butter, salt, lemon and a short pan is the correct technique in May.
6. JuneSpring

   Peas, broad beans, strawberries

   Podding season. Strawberries taste like something for the first time all year, and elderflower is in the hedges for about a fortnight.
7. JulyHigh summer

   Tomatoes that taste of tomato

   Courgettes in quantities nobody asked for, cucumbers, beans, the first sweetcorn. Eat things raw or barely cooked while they are this good.
8. AugustHigh summer

   The glut, and what to do with it

   Peppers, aubergines, plums, soft fruit. The month to preserve: slow-roast tomatoes for the freezer, pickle cucumbers, freeze berries on a tray before bagging them.
9. SeptemberEarly autumn

   The best month to cook

   Late tomatoes overlap with the first squash. Apples, pears, plums, blackberries, sweetcorn, mushrooms. Everything is available and nothing is desperate.
10. OctoberAutumn

    Squash keeps, so buy squash

    Main-crop potatoes, leeks, the first proper cabbages, nuts and mushrooms. A squash stored somewhere cool and dry is a January dinner you already paid for.
11. NovemberLate autumn

    Back to the slow pot

    Celeriac, chicory, sprouts on the stalk, kale improved by the first frost. Stock season starts here: keep a bag of trimmings in the freezer.
12. DecemberWinter

    Roots, fat and something sharp

    Sprouts, red cabbage, stored apples and pears, nuts, and citrus starting to be worth eating again. Rich food wants acid next to it: pickles, mustard, a sharp salad.