Wintery days are numbered, I'm sure, because by the time this letter pops into your mailbox we'll have turned another page on the calendar and have welcomed in September. The sun will be shining, new-born lambs bleating, and all around a feeling of relief, that finally we have got through the wettest winter since records were kept, will have dropped like a mantle around our shoulders.

Spring always promises so much – new beginnings, new growth, longer warmer days, more time spent outdoors and a return to lighter healthier food. More than any other season, spring heralds its arrival with produce, notably asparagus. The spears simply won’t pop up their heads until things are just right. The day is a-coming!

The plant's a perennial, a member of the lily family, and consists of a crown which sends up shoots each spring. At the end of spring spears are left to grow into ferns which then undergo photosynthesis. The root system is recharged with carbohydrates and these are stored in fat storage roots. In autumn the plants die off, and they remain dormant in winter, waiting for the ideal conditions of cool nights and mild daytime temperatures to start the process again.

I'll talk more about asparagus in my next newsletter because by then the asparagus season will be in full flow (it peaks around Labour weekend, the last weekend in October).

But right now I want to remind you to snap up the last of the autumn-winter season tamarillos before they're gone for another year. My family, including me, has become addicted to Tamarillo Chutney. It partners all meats, is great in a bacony-type roll, or with avocado, gives a chicken pie a bit of oomph and generally goes with most things. It’s an easy chutney to make, too – one of those recipes where you simply throw everything in the pot, bring it to the boil then cook it down until thick - and it keeps well. I generally store mine in the fridge because I couldn't stand any of it to spoil, but I'm sure if you had a cool pantry it would be fine in there for a few months...that's if you could leave it alone that long!

Apart from chutney, the easiest and I think most delicious way to deal to tamarillos is to peel them (easily done by plunging them into a saucepan of gently boiling water, just like a tomato, for about 20 seconds, then into a bowl of cold water, then peeling off the skin), then slice them thickly, put them into a container and sprinkle liberally with brown sugar. Within a matter of minutes a gorgeous crimson juice will start to flow out of the tamarillos. If you put them in the refrigerator and leave them overnight you'll end up with a beautiful compote to serve for breakfast. Done this way, they also partner homemade almond sponge cake pretty nicely, and creamy desserts.

If you're enjoying these newsletters how about sending me a quick email and forwarding details of the website to a friend. It's early days yet for this site and if there is anything you’d like covered, let me know.

Have a great start to spring, and for my American readers, I'll be back with the best-ever Thanksgiving menu very soon.

Cheers,
Julie