Shearmonath – shearing month, when sheep were shorn
As seasonal food fans, we’re not really allowed favourite months. Like twelve beloved children, we should cherish them all equally for their unique talents and attributes (yes, even February, who can’t catch at all). But if you really, really pressed me to make a choice, August would have to be a contender for my secret favourite.
All month long, food is plentiful, with a huge selection of fruit, vegetables and fish all in season and bursting with summery goodness.
It’s gloriously hard work keeping up with everything on the vegetable patch and in the orchard. We’ll be tucking into tomatoes, beans, chillies, aubergines, cherries and apricots to name but a few. It’s an impressive list and in a good year we’ll have them all coming out of our ears.
Before the month is out, the hedgerows will be brimming with more elderberries and early blackberries than you can shake a jam thermometer at and we’ve even got some game as the grouse season begins mid-month. So there’s undoubtedly something for everyone to enjoy.
In fact, the only negative thing I can find to say about August is that there’s almost too much produce – we’ll simply never eat it all. This is the first month we need to start thinking seriously about bottling some of the goodness, preserving the glut for the autumn and winter ahead.
In addition to the first-class food, we’re still enjoying the long, hot days of summer and there’s so much to do outdoors in the great British countryside that it’s pretty much impossible to do it justice in one short chapter.