Seasonal produce calendar for your kitchen
Every kitchen knows that cooking with the seasons tastes better and costs less. What nobody keeps track of is exactly when — so the asparagus goes on three weeks late, and by February the whole menu is leaning on something that was at its best in August. Say where you cook and what you cook with: the calendar follows, and the tool tells you what falls off your menu next month.
How to build your seasonal calendar
- 1
Pick your climate band
South, middle or north. The whole calendar shifts by a month with it, because the same asparagus peaks in April in Spain, in May here and in June in Finland.
- 2
Write beside a product what you do with it
Only the products with a dish written next to them count as your menu. That is what the tool can check — and it is exactly what a printed seasonal poster can never know.
- 3
Print the calendar and the changeover sheet
The calendar goes up in the kitchen; the changeover sheet goes with you to the supplier: what comes off, what goes on, and what you still have four weeks of.
One Europe, three seasons
A seasonal calendar that tries to serve the whole of Europe is right nowhere. Andalusian asparagus is finished before the Finnish crop is above ground, so this calendar shifts with your climate band instead of pretending the difference is not there.
| Band | Roughly where that is | Shift | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|
| South | Spain · Italy · Portugal · Greece · Malta · Croatia · Bulgaria | One month earlier | Asparagus peaks here from March to May; tomatoes are already good in June. |
| Middle | Benelux · France · Germany · Poland · Czechia · Slovakia · Hungary · Romania · Slovenia · Ireland | The reference | Asparagus peaks from April to June; tomatoes from July to September. |
| North | Denmark · Sweden · Finland · Estonia · Latvia · Lithuania | One month later | Asparagus only peaks from May to July; tomatoes make August to October. |
The words on this sheet
Five terms every kitchen uses and almost nobody writes down.
- Seasonal calendar
- A month-by-month view of what is harvested, landed or shot in your own region — not what is for sale, because almost everything is for sale almost always.
- At its best
- The weeks in which a product has the most flavour here and costs the least, because it comes from nearby and in quantity. Outside those weeks you can still buy it, but you are paying for the transport rather than for the taste.
- From store
- Real and local, but not fresh out of the field: apples, pears, onions, carrots and pumpkin come out of cold store for months on end. A menu that calls that the new crop is not telling the truth.
- Menu changeover
- The moment a menu changes because a product has run out, not because somebody found the time. Knowing four weeks ahead which dish is going to fall is the difference between a changeover and a scramble.
- Closed season
- The period in which a fish or game species may not be taken or shot. This tool does not fix that: it differs by country, by region and by licence.
Frequently asked questions
When is which vegetable in season?
It depends on where you cook. This calendar writes the months for the middle band (Benelux, France, Germany, Poland, Czechia) and shifts them a month earlier for southern Europe and a month later for Scandinavia and the Baltics. Asparagus peaks here from April to June, tomatoes from July to September, leeks from October to February.
Why is a single European seasonal calendar never right?
Because the growing season shifts with latitude. A chart saying strawberries are a June product is a month late in Seville and a month early in Helsinki. So this tool puts a band next to the months instead of pretending one average holds everywhere.
What is the difference between at its best and from store?
Fresh out of the field, against kept well for months. Apples, pears, onions, carrots, pumpkin and celeriac come out of cold store for a large part of the year: perfectly good product, but it is not the new crop and it does not belong on your menu described as one.
Does this tool tell me when I may serve fish or game?
No. The months on fish and game are the usual availability, not legal seasons. Closed seasons differ by country, by region and by licence — ask your supplier and check your own licence.
How does the tool know what falls off my menu?
Because you write beside a product what you make with it. Only those products count as your menu, and the tool holds them against next month: what is no longer to be had, and what moves from fresh to store. Without that column this is just a calendar.
Why does it say my menu is thin in certain months?
Because it counts, per month, how many of your own products are at their best then. Two or fewer and your menu leans on nothing at all that month — usually January to March, and you only notice in January. Under eight products the tool says nothing about it: below that it would be a statement about your list, not about your year.
This is a house document, not a statement of law. Closed seasons for fish and game, and what may be sold when, differ by country, by region and by licence — always check them with your own supplier and against your own licence. The months here are the usual European seasons, not a guarantee from your grower.