Both! When planning your garden, and buying seeds or seedlings, think about growing fruit, vegetables and herbs that you, and your loved ones, consistently eat. Think about what your family eat at the moment, or more so, what they do not. It works both ways, grow what you eat, but also, don’t grow what you don’t eat.

If nobody likes to eat cucumbers, or only one family member or roommate is fond of them, limit how many cucumber plants you put in. Sometimes it is worthwhile trialling things that may not be the most popular with those you are feeding, because home grown produce can often be dramatically more delicious than what you are used to. Or you may find pickled dill cucumbers are great, even though you don’t really like fresh ones.

You can always share or swap produce you didn’t end up liking. The best thing about growing some of your own food is that you can experiment and if something wasn’t popular last season, don’t grow it next year. Or you may find something grew well, and everyone loved it, and you might plant more of them next year.

Some produce you commonly eat now, may not be so easy to grow yourself, depending on the climate you live in, and you may have to learn to enjoy what does grow well in your area instead. You may love mangoes, but do not live in a tropical region, but you can grow raspberries in your climate, which are equally delicious.

Unless you have the space and can do ‘succession planting’ then you may also find you can’t grow enough, or consistent amounts, of what you do eat. When you run out of carrots, maybe kohlrabi is your new best friend.

Learning to enjoy what grows in your area, and in the seasons in which it grows, can be done by learning how to transform what you’ve grown into something everyone likes. You may not love cauliflower, but it grows well in your climate, and you could try cauliflower in au gratin, roasted, in mash, soup, or even made into a pizza base! 

You may have heard the terms ‘seasonal eating’ or ‘eating by the season’, which means you eat produce during the period when it is being harvested in your region, or your garden! Certain foods will grow ‘year round’ but many are only able to grow in the warmer seasons, whereas others are optimally grown during the cooler seasons.

Depending on the climate where you live and are growing your edible garden, you may find you are harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans and basil in Summer, pumpkins and squash in Autumn, kale and swedes in Winter, and broad beans, kohlrabi, asparagus and broccoli in Spring.

You can make delicious meals using seasonal produce, by learning how to substitute in recipes for what is being harvested.

If you buy your fresh produce from the supermarket, many varieties are available all year, even those  that would not be growing or being harvested at that time of year. There is a good chance it has been shipped from far away (where it is being grown and harvested) or that it was grown in a heated greenhouse. It may have been grown using chemical to boost production, and harvested early to allow for distribution or storage. Or chemically treated and stored in cool rooms for long term storage. All of which have a negative impact on the environment (and you!)

Eating produce when it is ‘in season’ means it is at it’s peak, it tastes better, it may be more nutritious, and more readily available. You can embrace seasonal eating because the food tastes better, and you’ve been waiting months for the ‘asparagus season’ or the ‘corn season’ to start, so it means more when it does. By doing without for part of the year, you really appreciate when something does come into season!

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT IS IN SEASON?

Take a look at what is growing in your own garden, or available at the local farmers market, as that is a good way to tell if something is ‘in season’. 

You can find seasonal produce guides for your region or climate, like this from Sustainable Table or the Seasonal Food Guide Australia, or even in some gardening or cook books.

Look for cook books, blogs and websites specifically about seasonal cooking, like River Cottage, Jamie Oliver, Northwest Edible Life, A Year in Food, Brooklyn Supper, Love and Lemons, and Ottolenghi. Learn how to make the most of what is in season with great recipes for vegetables, fruit and herbs, often using simple ways to bring the best out in the freshest produce.

If your family are used to eating a certain way, it can be a challenge to start eating from the garden (or using local food) which may be ‘different’ to what they are used to. The vegetables and fruit may look different, and taste different. There may be times of abundance, where you have a lot of zucchini or squash to eat, which quickly gets boring, or just grosses them out. And let’s face it, fuss-pots will sometimes just find any ol’ reason to fuss, right.

Whilst you might adopt an ‘eat it or go hungry’ motto, an adjustment period is a good idea to ease your family into the new meals and way of eating. It gives them time to realise that meals made from home grown and local food can taste great, even if it isn’t what they (or you) are used to.

Your family, or those you are feeding, can get involved in the challenge, creating new favourites, like BBQ Zucchini Fritters, or adapting the old ones, such as adding roast vegetables into the layers of lasagna.

OTHER IDEAS TO TURN THOSE FROWNS UPSIDE DOWN

• Incorporate (or you can call it ‘hide’) vegetables into family favourites, like finely grating vegetables into meatballs or bolognese sauce, or using pureed vegetables in cheesy pasta or risotto
• Make ‘mixed mash’ instead of mashed potato, by adding home grown pumpkin, sweet potato and even turnip, to the potatoes (start with smaller amounts of other root vegetables until they get used to the difference).
• Try homemade pizzas or baked potatoes, using home preserved sauce, and toppings from the garden, like grilled zucchini, eggplant, or capsicum, covered in cheese, with a home grown salad on the side.
• Try making a recipe with the bulk of the meal being home grown vegetables, and a smaller amount of meat/ meat alternative, like Shepard’s Pie or Nacho Mince
• You might get good results from things you wouldn’t expect them (or yourself) to like, such as kale chips, radish fries or stuffed mushrooms.
• Make your own seasonings and flavourings, such curry paste using home grown chillies and herbs, or try smoking capsicums to make your own paprika.
• Roasting or char grilling makes a boring vegetable into an exciting addition to meals.
• Using recipes from vegetable cookbooks, like the River Cottage Veg recipes, or Hugh’s books Veg and Much More Veg, or Ottolenghi’s Plenty, The Vegetable Butcher, Tender by Nigel Slater (heaps more, just check out your local library) which can give you inspiration too, especially when an abundance coming from the garden needs creativity to transform them into family friendly meals.

One option is to store and preserve food during the harvest or peak growing seasons, whether you use home grown or buy local produce.

Buy local, in season produce. Check out The Beginner’s Guide to Greening your Kitchen on how to shop and source local food. You may be able to buy your produce from local Farmers Markets, CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture) and even direct from the farmer.

Another idea is to make do with what is available, such as in Winter, eating the leafy young tops off radishes, turnips, beetroot or swedes as ‘greens’, as well the vegetable part.

Lean times in the garden, or when there has been an incident with your crops, might be a good time to learn how to forage and identify edible weeds, with a good resource being The Weed Forager’s Handbook: A Guide to Edible and Medicinal Weeds in Australia by Adam Grubb and Annie Raser-Rowland’.