July is one of the most abundant months of the year. Soft fruits are at their peak, tomatoes are beginning to show their true flavour and summer vegetables are arriving in abundance. It’s a month that lends itself to simple cooking. Whether it’s a barbecue with friends, a picnic by the coast or supper in the garden, seasonal ingredients do much of the hard work. Fresh tomatoes, courgettes, French beans and new potatoes sit naturally alongside meat from our butchery and bread from our bakery.
Many of the ingredients at their best this month also find their way into the food we make in our kitchens, from salads, pickles and sauces to hummus and seasonal deli dishes. It’s one of the pleasures of eating with the seasons – ingredients picked at the right time tend to speak for themselves. With everything from cherries and berries to beetroot, cucumbers and broad beans coming into season, July offers some of the finest flavours of the summer.
Tomatoes
July is when tomatoes begin to come into their own. Sweet, juicy and full of flavour, they need very little beyond a drizzle of good olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Whether enjoyed in salads, piled onto fresh bread or cooked into sauces, this is the month to appreciate them at their best.
Courgettes
Courgettes are one of the great vegetables of summer. Grilled on the barbecue, roasted alongside meat or folded into simple suppers, their versatility makes them a staple of the season.
Cherries & Summer Berries
July brings an abundance of soft fruit. Cherries, raspberries and blueberries are all at their best, offering plenty of opportunities for puddings, baking or simply enjoying them as they are. Few things capture the flavour of summer quite so well.
French Beans & Runner Beans
Freshly harvested beans are one of the highlights of midsummer. Crisp, sweet and packed with flavour, they’re perfect served simply alongside grilled meats, tossed through salads or enjoyed with a knob of butter.
New Potatoes
There is still very little to improve on a freshly harvested new potato. Boiled with mint, roasted until golden or served alongside something from the butcher’s counter, they remain one of the simplest pleasures of the season.
Also in Season
Alongside July’s highlights, look out for:
- Aubergines
- Beetroot
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Chillies
- Cucumbers
- Fennel
- Garlic
- Gooseberries
- Greengages
- Kohlrabi
- Loganberries
- Onions
- Peas
- Radishes
- Redcurrants
- Blackcurrants
- Rhubarb
- Rocket
- Samphire
- Sorrel
- Spring Greens
- Spring Onions
- Strawberries
- Summer Squash
- Sweetheart Cabbage
- Swiss Chard
- Turnips
- Watercress
If you’re foraging
July is one of the most rewarding months for foraging in the South West. Hedgerows begin to fill with wild strawberries and raspberries, whilst the first blackberries start to appear towards the end of the month. Bilberries can often be found on the moor. Meadowsweet perfumes country lanes and has long been used in cordials, syrups and mead, with its sweet, floral flavour also lending itself to summer puddings and baking. Wild fennel, thyme and marjoram flourish in sunny spots, and along the coast, samphire offers a distinctive taste of the sea. Keen-eyed foragers may also begin spotting the first wild mushrooms of the season towards the end of the month.
As always, forage responsibly, only pick what you can confidently identify and leave plenty behind for wildlife and future harvests.
At Ben’s Farm Shop, we believe good food starts with good farming. July is a reminder of just how rewarding that can be. Fresh, seasonal ingredients, grown and produced with care make some of the simplest meals.