Put down the Blueberry Pie because GUESS WHAT? IT'S NOT SEASONAL RIGHT NOW

Earlier on this week, I ventured to the Ackerman bookstore trying to look for more information on sustainable eating and cooking. However sadly to my dismay, I found that the bookstore lacked books in that department, except for one. One little lonesome book on the shelf. Not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed especially since we are on a college campus with thousands of kids who actually have the time to care about things like this, and implement it into their lives unlike many working adults who look for efficiency and time in cooking. The least I can say about going to the bookstore is that I tried.

That one book that Ackerman provided however did give some inspiration. Instead of organizing my cookbook off of types of food (entrees, desserts, appetizers), I thought it would be more practical for a sustainable cookbook to be organized around seasonality. Knowing this now, I decided to switch and have each section based off seasons: having recipes that include ingredients that are from seasonal produce.

I looked up online different seasonal produce sites. Each had slightly different ways of tackling this. Seasonality all depends on where you are located. Much of our produce is not grown locally and there are even differences between northern and southern California. The difficulty I feel in this project is finding produce which is grown in California, so that it does not have to travel very far from farm to kitchen: this is key to sustainability. Finding the recipes will not be the difficult task, but for next week I want to research more about the types of produce we have in California and the types of organic farms that grow this produce, to scale down my ingredients even further. After all, features necessary for sustainable cooking are: organic, in season, not processed, locally grown, healthy, and minimal packaging. Implementing fresh ingredients from produce grown straight from California and buying that produce from local farmer’s markets or produce marts will drastically change the sustainability of cooking.

Already looking at the different seasons below and some seasonal fruits and vegetables from these seasons has put some delicious ideas for recipes in my head. I can’t wait too look up recipes soon, which are based around the produce such as berries for a pie in summer and an arugala salad in the spring.

P.s. Although I want to use as little meat and dairy as possible. When I figure out the types of recipes I want to use, I will need to incorporate how sustainable the meat and dairy is too, by looking at where it is from and how the animals are raised. Also, how sustainable is tofu? These are questions I will be researching into in weeks to come. Keep a look out! For now enjoy looking at seasonal produce! J

· Spring- Apricots, Artichokes, Arugala, Asparagus, Beets, Cardoons, Carrots, Chard and other greens, Cherries, Fava beans, Fennel, Fiddle heads, Garlic scrapes/ Green garlic, grapefruit, Green onions/Scallions, Greens, Kiwis, Kumquats, Leeks, Lemons, Lettuce, Mint, Morels Nettles, Navel Oranges, Parsley, Pea Greens, Peas, Radishes, Rhubarb, Spinach, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Sweet Onions, Strawberries, Sweet Onions, Turn-ups

· Summer- Apples, Apricots, Avocados, Basil, Bell Peppers/ Sweet Peppers, Beets, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cantaloupes, Carrots, Chard, Cherries, Chiles, Cilantro, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Fennel, Figs, Garlic, Gooseberries, Grapes, Green beans, Green Onions, Herbs, Huckleberries, Lemongrass, Lettuce, Limes, Mangoes, Marionberries, Melons, Nectarines, Okra, Onions, Peaches, Peas, Peppers, Plums, Potatoes, Radicchio, Radishes, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Shlling beans, Spinach, Springs onions, Strawberries Sweet Onions, Tomatillos, Tomatoes, Watermelons, Zucchini & other Summer Squash, Zucchini Blossoms

· Fall – Apples, Artichokes, Arugala, Beets, Belgian Endive, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celeriac/Celery root, Celery, Chard, Chicories, Chiles, Cranberries, Curly Endive, Edamame, Eggplant, Escarole, Fennel, Figs, Garlic, Grapes, Green beans, Green onions/ Scallions, Herbs, Horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes/Sunchokes, Kale, Kohirabi, Leeks, Lemongrass, Lettuce, Limes, Mushrooms, Okra, Onions, Parsnips, Pears, Peppers, Persimmons, Pomegranates, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Radishes, Shallots, Shelling beans, Spinach, Sweet potatoes, Tomatillos, Turnips, Winter squash

· Winter – Beets, Belgian Endive, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, Cardoons, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celeriac/Celery root, Celery, Chicories, Clementines, Curley Endive, Fennel, Grapefruit, Herbs, Horseradish, Kale, Kiwis, Kumquats, Leeks, Lemons, Mandarins, Onions (storage), Oranges, Parsnips, Pears, Persimmons, Pommelos, Potatoes, Radicchio, Radishes, Rutabagas (yellow turnips), Satsumas, Sweet potatoes, Tangerines, Treviso, Turnips, Winter squash.

· http://www.cuesa.org/seasonality/charts/vegetable.php

· http://www.seasonalchef.com/cropchart2.htm

http://localfoods.about.com/od/finduselocalfoods/a/natlseason.htm