June always feels like a turning point. After the slower months of winter and spring, everything suddenly gathers pace. The hedgerows fill out, the mornings get lighter and British farms begin producing some of the freshest food of the year.
At Ben’s Farm Shop, fruit and veg has always been at the heart of things. We’ve long believed that good food starts with good farming – produce grown properly, harvested when it’s ready and sold in season, when it naturally tastes at its best.
And June is one of those months where seasonal eating becomes very easy. The shelves begin filling with sweet strawberries, bunches of asparagus, fresh peas still in their pods, broad beans, leafy salads and the first proper new potatoes. Simple food, but when it’s fresh and grown well, it rarely needs much else.
There’s also something satisfying about eating with the seasons. Produce hasn’t travelled halfway around the world, flavours are fuller and meals tend to become simpler almost without trying. For us, it’s also about supporting British farmers and growers during one of their busiest and most important times of year.
The Best of June
Strawberries
British strawberries are finally back and they’re worth waiting for. Sweet, fragrant and deeply red, June is when they really begin to shine. They’re good enough to eat straight from the punnet but equally at home folded into Eton mess, spooned over yoghurt or piled onto a Victoria sponge.
Asparagus
The British asparagus season is famously short, which makes it feel all the more special. June asparagus is tender, full of flavour and best treated simply grilled with olive oil, folded through a risotto or served warm with butter and sea salt, it’s one of those ingredients that reminds you how good fresh produce can be.
Peas & Broad Beans
Fresh peas and broad beans are one of the clearest signs that summer has properly arrived. Sweet peas straight from the pod have a freshness frozen varieties never quite manage, while broad beans bring an earthy flavour that works beautifully in salads, pasta dishes and lighter summer meals.
New Potatoes
There’s very little to improve on a fresh new potato; boiled with mint, roasted until crisp or tossed warm into salads, they’re one of the simplest pleasures of early summer eating.
Cherries & Summer Berries
June also welcomes the return of cherries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries. These early summer fruits always feel fleeting, which is part of their charm. Perfect baked into crumbles and tarts, stirred through breakfast bowls or simply eaten fresh while they’re at their best.
Also in Season This Month
Alongside June’s highlights, there’s plenty more arriving fresh throughout the month:
- Courgettes
- Lettuce & salad leaves
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Spring onions
- Beetroot
- Cucumbers
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Swiss chard
- Watercress
- Rhubarb
- Blackcurrants
- Redcurrants
- Elderflower
Foraging Season
June is also when the hedgerows and lanes begin offering up a few treats of their own. Elderflower is suddenly everywhere for those quick enough to catch it before the weather turns, bringing with it the annual excuse for cordial, fizz and the occasional overambitious homemade liqueur.
Wild garlic may be fading but many of the herbs and edible flowers are still thriving, while keen-eyed foragers will start spotting the first signs of summer berries beginning to appear.
Like most seasonal food, foraging tends to remind you that nature knows what it’s doing. Things arrive when they’re ready, disappear just as quickly and taste all the better for being fleeting.
Good Food From Good Farming
Seasonal eating doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, June tends to remind us that the best food rarely is.
A punnet of strawberries on the table, peas podded into a salad, buttery new potatoes alongside something from the butcher’s counter – often that’s more than enough.
We’ll be keeping the fruit and veg areas stocked with the best of the month as the harvest rolls on, with fresh deliveries arriving throughout June.