Things are improving in the UK as growers extend growing seasons with polytunnels, coldframes and greenhouses, and try out new varieties of plants. Keep an eye out for any of the fresh homegrown foods you can get hold of, including:

Fruit: early/forced rhubarb, apples and pears from store.

Vegetables: asian greens, cabbage (green), chicory, endive, kale, leeks, nettle tops, parsley, parsnips, purple sprouting broccoli, sea kale, sorrel, spring greens, spring onions, swedes, wild garlic, winter varieties of lettuce.

Fish and shellfish: bass, brown crab, clams, cockles, pollack, young mackerel, mussels, rock oysters, sardines, scallops, sea trout, wild salmon.

Meat, poultry and game: not the top season for any meats in particular.

Cheeses: Cotherstone, Stilton. Comté, Roquefort.

I think I’ll be cooking up some bashed neeps (swedes) and wilted curly kale to serve with burgers or sausages, some noodle soup with Asian greens and shellfish, and some sprouting broccoli baked with eggs and garlic.

What are you going to cook? Do you have any favourite recipes?

It’s fresh, it’s tasty, and there’s a lot of it. Most of  the veggies you can grow yourself if you have some outside space and green fingers, you might be able to forage some of the other ingredients for free, and what turns up at market often arrives in bulk so market forces keep the prices low.

Unlike other guides, I’ve separated the UK-produced foods out from the imported goods in case some of you want to ‘buy local’ or avoid premium prices. The rarer or imported items are more of a treat, if you have a larger budget.

If you’re a game fan, November is the month for you, and it’s also the season for plenty of fish and shellfish as the water around our islands gets colder. It’s a good time for fans of nuts and exotic fruits too, so there’s something for everyone as a festive tinge creeps in.

So, on with the show… the mouth-watering seasonal foods you can find in November:

Fruit: almonds, apples, cranberries, hazelnuts, medlars, pears, plums, quinces, walnuts. Imported brazil nuts, chestnuts, clementines, dates, pineapples, pomegranates, satsumas.

Vegetables: asian greens, broccoli, brussels sprouts and tops, cabbage (red and green), cardoons, celeriac, celery, chicory, Jerusalem artichoke, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, parsnips, pumpkins and squashes, rocket, salsify and scorzonera, seaweed, spinach, spring onions, swedes, turnips, wild mushrooms.

Fish and shellfish: brown hen crab, brown shrimp, cod, halibut, herring, lobster, mackerel, mussels, native and rock oysters, sea bass, sea bream, sole, sprats, squid, whiting.

Meat, poultry and game: goose, grouse, wild duck, partridge, pheasant, traditional varieties of pork, woodcock.

Cheeses: Ribblesdale. Saint-Nectaire, Vacherin Mont d’Or.

Mmmmm Vacherin. Time to visit the cheesemonger and break out the crackers. It could also be time to make a casseorole of some sort with all those lovely winter root veggies arriving at the market. Think I’ll go up to the only cheap fruit and veg stall at Borough Market around closing time and see if they’ll do me a deal on a job lot…

What are you going to cook?

What’s in season for August?

Fruit: apricots, bilberries, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, currants (black, red, white), early apples, early damsons, figs, greengages, gooseberries, loganberries, peaches, plums, raspberries, strawberries and wild strawberries. Imported melons, nectarines.

Vegetables: aubergines, basil, broad beans, broccoli and calabrese, celery, chives, courgettes, cucumbers, fennel, globe artichokes, green beans, horseradish, kohlrabi, lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, mushrooms (ceps, chanterelles, field, oyster, porcini, puffball, shaggy ink cap), new potatoes, peas, peppers, radishes, rocket, samphire, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, summer squash, sweetcorn, tarragon, tomatoes, watercress.

Fish and shellfish: black bream, brown and rainbow trout, brown crab, crayfish, Dover sole, haddock, herring, john dory, lobster, pilchards, pollack, prawns, red and grey mullet, salmon, sea bass, squid.

Meat, poultry and game: grouse from the 12^th, hare at its best.

Cheeses: Farmhouse Cheddar, British goats’ cheese. Chaource, Charolles, Valencay.

While I’d like a fancy Dover sole dinner more than anything right now, I think it’d be more realistic to settle for some blueberries and cherries (is it my imagination or is there a glut of them this year?), or maybe some roasted squash soup or risotto.

What are you going to cook?