British seasonal food in June – what to eat now
British seasonal food in June gets more varied and colourful as we move into summer. This month’s treats include fresh homegrown berries, beans, globe artichokes, courgettes and plenty more.
There are also some interesting seasonal imports if you can get hold of them at the moment, including melons, apricots and nectarines.
Here’s the big list of what’s most likely to be best to buy, or pick from your garden or allotment, this month.
Fruit in season in June
This is the month that British seasonal fruits start to become much more abundant. In particular there are plenty of berries, gooseberries and currants.
There’s plenty to tuck into from our own shores, plus some delicious imported treats.
British-grown fruit in June
Blackcurrants
Cherries
Gooseberries
Raspberries
Redcurrants
Rhubarb (last bit)
Strawberries
Tayberries
Imported seasonal fruit: June
Apricots
Melons (Charentais, cantaloupe, galia)
Mangoes (Alphonso, honey)
Nectarines
Peaches
Watermelon
Recommended seasonal fruit & preserves books
Vegetables in season in June
The first home grown courgettes and tomatoes make an appearance in June.
It’s also the best month for globe artichokes, full sized broad beans, french beans, peas, all kinds of fresh herbs and more.
There’s so much to choose from at this time of year:
British seasonal veg: June
Asparagus
Beetroot
Broad beans
Broccoli (calabrese)
Carrots
Chard
Courgettes (baby, flowers)
Cucumber
Fennel (Florence)
Globe artichokes
Green beans (French and runner)
Lettuce and other salad leaves
Mangetout
New potatoes (including Jersey Royals)
Onions (first new season)
Peas
Radishes
Spinach
Spring onions
Summer cabbages
Tomatoes
Turnips
Watercress
Available most months in good condition: button mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, maincrop potatoes, onions, rocket.
Recommended veg cookbooks
FREE!!
UK fruit and veg calendar
Herbs in season in June
There’s so much to choose from this month.
- Basil
- Chervil
- Chives
- Coriander
- Fennel
- Lovage
- Marjoram
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Sorrel
- Summer savory
- Tarragon
- Thyme
Always available:
- Chives, coriander and parsley grown under cover.
- Older leaves of hardy perennials like bay, rosemary, sage, thyme.
Wild / foraged UK food in June
These are the two main tasty treats right now:
UK foraged food in June
Elderflowers
Samphire (rock)
[Take great care when foraging as it’s easy to confuse edible and poisonous ingredients.]
Recommended foraging & wild food books
Fish in season in June
The seas are slightly warmer as summer starts to roll in, heralding the arrival of the best mackerel and the start of sardine season.
Seasonal fish varies greatly around the UK, and from one year to the next, but here’s a rough guide to what’s fresh this June:
Sustainable British fish: June
Coley / saithe
Crab (brown / edible)
Flounder
Halibut (farmed, at its best all summer)
Mussels (farmed)
Plaice
Pollock
Pouting / bib
Prawns (northern)
Rainbow trout (farmed)
Turbot (farmed)
Whitebait
[To the best of my knowledge, the list above excludes critically endangered fish. Visit The Good Fish Guide from the Marine Conservation Society to check their latest lists.]
You should be able to source most of these sustainably via a responsible fishmonger too:
Less sustainable UK fish: June
Brown shrimp
Whiting
Wild halibut
Wild salmon
Wild seabream
In good condition almost all year: farmed clams, farmed halibut, herring, farmed seabream and turbot, megrim sole, sustainably-fished monkfish, rope-grown mussels, prawns.
Recommended fish & shellfish books
FREE!!
UK fruit and veg calendar
Meat, poultry & game in season in June
Okay, it’s not the busiest month for these ingredients, but this ingredient is at its best:
- Lamb
Always available in good condition: beef, chicken, pork, rabbit, farmed venison, wood pigeon.
Cheese in season in June
Yes, many quality cheeses are seasonal! It depends on the animals being milked, their grazing and reproductive cycles, the way specific cheeses are made, and their time to mature.
By June there will be aged-fresh cheeses made from spring milk, very fresh cheeses made from rich summer milk, white blooming rind cheeses made from late winter milk, some washed-rind cheeses with orange or pink surfaces, and a few short-matured blue cheeses to pick from.
So you have a decent amount of choice this month if you want to buy quality cheeses. Here are some good examples:
Best British cheeses: June
Farmhouse Cheddar
Ewe’s milk cheeses
Fresh and medium-aged goat cheeses
Stinking Bishop (washed rind cheese)
Wigmore (white rind semi-soft cheese)
June imported seasonal cheese
Short-matured blue cheeses
Camembert de Normandie
Other soft cheeses (e.g. Chaource, Pont l’Evêque, Reblochon)
Feta
Mozzarella
Many quality mature cheeses are available year-round, especially hard cheeses.
Recommended cheese & wine books & delivery
Enjoying this guide? You may also like:
- British seasonal food in May
- British seasonal food in July
- What to sow & do in a June kitchen garden
- The best value supermarket rosé wine for summer
What we’re eating at Golightly Gardens
We’ve been picking the first strawberries in the kitchen garden since the heatwave at the end of May, and there are a few raspberries to pick as well. There are lots of tasty fresh herbs, especially basil, and the first crop of rocket is ready to pick.
We have mostly been eating salads, and simple fresh foods. Time for a relaxed cheese and wine evening soon too, probably featuring a roll of fresh goat cheese, some Stinking Bishop, and a chunk of Camembert.
I might also hunt down a few imported apricots and a melon for a healthy treat, and snaffle up another bunch of British asparagus and some baby new potatoes before the season finishes. It’s a good month for bright, fresh flavours.
Recommended general seasonal inspiration books
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Do you have any seasonal favourites that you’re looking forward to this month?
Let us know in the comments box below.
