The Veronesi Foundation and all nutritionists never tire of repeating it: the only way we have to ensure that our body has the right amount of nutrients, vitamins and healthy effects is to consume seasonal fruit and vegetables. In fact, there are more and more scientific studies that invite us to abandon fashion to bring out of season fruit and vegetables to the table, which often come from distant countries chemically treated, to combat mold and organic deterioration, with substances harmful to the body or, in the best of cases, grown in greenhouses, with forced ripening, which do not respect the course of nature, seasonality to the detriment of the nutritional properties. Last but not least it should be emphasized that the greenhouses, to guarantee the maintenance of a specific microclimate inside them, involve a environmental impact not negligible.
The phenomenon is now so widespread that the consumer, used to seeing any type of fruit or vegetable on supermarket counters in any season of the year, ends up not having clear what the seasonality of each individual product is, contravening against the most elementary nutraceutical principles
To put some order in this field, the association "Road to green 2020”, a non-profit association founded in 2016 with the aim of promoting environmental education and disseminating information regarding energy-environmental sustainability, innovation, climate and social changes has drawn up a sort of Farmer's vocabulary, a list with the main fruits and the most common vegetables, indicating the natural ripening period for each one.
"Promoting a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition is very important, but we must first lay the foundations of knowledge. – Explains Barbara Molinario, President of Road to green 2020 - Once upon a time, when you went shopping, you could only find seasonal products, often at 0 km, grown by local farmers. Today, we can buy anything at any time of the year. However, more and more people in recent years are choosing to consume only seasonal products, for reasons related to environmental or health issues, but it is not always easy to choose. For example, how many people know when it's chicory or plum season?".
So here is the Farmer's vocabulary, created by Road to green 2020, with the main fruits, vegetables and legumes. The periods indicated may vary according to the cultivation region and due to climate change, which is significantly modifying the temperatures and the characteristics of the seasons.
GARLIC: in Italy garlic is harvested between June and August, but it can be kept for a long time, even for several months;
APRICOTS: the months in which we can taste the tastiest fruits are June and July, but it is not uncommon to find good ones already at the end of May and until mid-August;
WATERMELON: if you want to taste a real watermelon, do it between July and August;
ORANGES: from November to April. Over the months, it is possible to find different varieties. For the reddest and sweetest fruits, we recommend waiting after Christmas;
ASPARAGUS: in its 3 main varieties (green, white and wild), asparagus is a typically spring vegetable, its harvest begins in the second half of March and ends in June;
RED BEETS: red beets are harvested between August and February;
CHARDS: this extraordinary plant has incredible adaptability to different climates, and grows all year round;
BROCCOLI: this vegetable boasts a rather long seasonality, from September to March;
ARTICHOKES: there are many varieties of artichokes, from the Spinoso one of Sardinia, to that of Paestum, but also the Violetto di Chioggia, the Brindisino or the Romanesco and many others. The artichoke season is very long, covering the months from November to April;
CARROTS: carrots can be found all year round, however, the sweetest ones are those in January, especially if the previous summer was hot and the autumn mild;
CHESTNUTS: the most typical of autumn fruits, we can taste them in the month of October;
CABBAGES: cabbage is harvested from June to April, while cauliflower has a much longer harvest period, which runs from October to May;
CUCUMBERS: typically summer, they are harvested during the months of this season, in the period from June to September;
CHICORY: it is possible to find chicory throughout the year, from January to December, but these are different varieties (white, red, green, catalonia);
CHERRIES: among the most loved spring fruits, their maturation takes place between May and June;
ONIONS: their maturation takes place immediately after winter, from March to May;
BEANS: there are many varieties (borlotti, Spagna, cannellini), they are harvested from June (but often already from May) to September;
GREEN BEANS: their natural maturation is completed in the months between July and October;
FIGS: there are two varieties, the one that ripens in summer, between June and July, and those that our grandparents called settembrini, from the month in which they reached their peak of ripeness and sweetness (even if today fruits are already ripe in August);
FENNEL: often associated with the summer season, it is instead a winter vegetable, whose seasonality goes from October to March;
STRAWBERRIES: the natural seasonality of strawberries goes from May to July;
MUSHROOMS: given the huge variety of edible mushrooms, it is possible to find them throughout the year. For example, porcini mushrooms can be harvested in spring and autumn, but the best period is between May and June;
KHAKI: this sweet fruit finds its maximum ripeness in autumn, from October to December;
KIWI: among the fruits richest in vitamin C, you can eat it for many months, from November to May;
RASPBERRIES: you can go look for and collect these colorful fruits in the woods in the months of July and August;
LETTUCE: this vegetable grows throughout the year, since there really are a great many varieties. For example, romaine lettuce is harvested from April to November, summer lettuce from June to October, but autumn and winter lettuce also exist;
LEMONS: lemons are harvested from October to April;
MANDARINS: their natural seasonality extends from November to February;
EGGPLANT: the aubergines are harvested in the hottest months of the year, from June to October;
APPLES: the apple harvest takes place from September to May, with obvious differences between the varieties and the geographical latitude;
MELON: the summer melon (the one with the orange flesh) ripens in summer, from June to August, while the winter melon (with the white flesh) is harvested in September, but can be kept for many months, with due precautions, and even consumed until in December;
BLUEBERRIES: their ripening season already begins in June and lasts until the end of August, sometimes even reaching September;
MORE: the best month to pick blackberries is August, but with warm seasons, it is possible to find ripe and very sweet ones as early as July;
OLIVES: in general, the harvest period goes from October to December, but the times are also determined by the type of olive (early or late) and by the climate that characterized the year;
POTATOES: even potatoes can be harvested throughout the year;
PEPPERS: it is a typically summer vegetable, which needs heat to ripen, and is harvested from July to September;
PEARS: their harvest takes place from June to October, depending on whether it is a summer or autumn variety;
PEACHES: peaches are harvested in summer, from June to September;
PEAS: the harvest goes from April to June;
TOMATOES: the harvest begins in June, but sometimes also in May, and lasts until September;
PRUNES: the natural seasonality goes from June to September;
RADISH: radicchio is also a vegetable that is harvested throughout the year;
SPINACH: spinach is harvested in autumn and winter, from about September to March;
PLUMNS: it is a summer fruit, which is harvested from June to September;
GRAPE: the harvest can begin at the end of August and continue until December, but the months in which most of the varieties ripen are September and October;
PUMPKIN: the signature vegetable of Halloween and many fall dishes is harvested from September to November;
ZUCHINIS: the courgettes are harvested between spring and summer, from March to July.
“We want to grow culture "green" – say the managers of Road to Green 2020 – furthermore leveraging on the enormous cultural heritage that Italy possesses and which unfortunately is very often misvalued, a heritage that passes from the kitchen to historical and modern art, to the unique natural sceneries, to the personalities and peoples who have made the history of our country and of the world, all using modern technologies and favoring the encounter between history, nature and technology.
