The urban cynic might say that the best way to know when something’s in season is when it’s cheap. Abundance crashes prices, after all. But as well as being more affordable, produce at its seasonal peak is likely to have better flavour and texture, as well as being more nutritious.

While seasonality matters for food, it matters so much more when it’s also local. Our world is so well connected that trucks, trains and planes are hitting our cities with produce at its seasonal peak all throughout the year, but travel time can impact on the nutritional value, quality and price of produce. There’s also the environmental impact of shipping produce across the country or globe.

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We also live in an age when traditional peak seasons for fruit and veg are now being extended by agricultural and storage practices. Most things we eat originally had a short season when the plants or fields were at their most productive, whether it be silverbeet or spring lamb. This might be a matter of the plant needing specific weather conditions to grow or, in the case of lamb, they came along when feed was plentiful to help their growth and survival.

Now, the demands of supermarkets (and we consumers) for the year-round availability of fresh produce means growers have sought to find ways to extend their growing season. This can include the use of polytunnels and greenhouses, early or late plantings, or the selection of late- or early-season cultivars that are hardier and less susceptible to extremes of heat or cold. Some core products – like bananas, some citrus, carrots and potatoes – are now seen as being ‘non-seasonal’ and are available all year. While mushrooms were usually collected with the first rains after summer, producing them in the controlled conditions of specialised indoor growing rooms means they too are now always in season.

Still, according to the US Department of Agriculture, about 70 percent of fresh produce is affected by seasonal cycles. This can be tricky if you crave strawberries in the winter after staying up late to watch Wimbledon, or demand a winter veg like brussels sprouts to go with Christmas dinner. Here is where modern storage practices some into play, but in truth, the quality can suffer – those strawberries may not be as sweet, those sprouts rangy.

Fruit and veg also lose nutritional value once picked. Storage – in a distribution centre, in a truck as it’s being driven interstate – all impact nutritional levels. Refrigeration can slow this down, but the level of nutrients will still fall.

What makes things trickier if you’re growing for a prime seasonal window is if the weather does not behave in a predictable manner. For growers and suppliers, this can create issues around harvest and storage to match the time of potential demand. Because humans too have their own seasonality. If it’s July, my thoughts turn to pumpkin soup as the nights close in, and when the cricket starts, my mind turns to strawberries and cream. I think it’s a Pavlovian reaction to the sound of leather on willow.

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