Do you know when to eat duck? Why tomatoes are best in September? When pears are in season? Or why you won’t find a native oyster in June? With everything available all year round we’ve lost touch with the seasons. And if we’re not eating in season, then we’re not eating locally either.’seasonal Food’, by Paul Waddington, is a really useful reference book about what’s in season, when, in our country. It has easy at-a-glance guides to what’s coming in, what’s going out and what the special treats of any particular month are. It also has recipes and loads of other information to help you eat seasonally and locally. It even comes with Apple Man’s official 5 star thumbs-up recommendation! Note: Apple Man’s official 5 star thumbs-up recommendation has never been heard of before and was dreamt up on the spur of the moment 5 minutes ago.We sent our crack team of negotiators in to secure a deal on the book for BigBarn and once they’d had a nice cup of tea, some very tasty biscuits, and gone ‘oooh’ when they bumped into a famous author, they came out with £2 off the recommended retail price. Next time they’re going to play hardball by eschewing the stem-ginger biscuits in favour of an even better deal. Hard as nails.To order your copy at the special price of £8.99, with free postage and packaging, call BookpostPLC on 01624 677237 or email your order by clicking here, quoting BigBarn.

’seasonal Food’ by Paul Waddington is published by Eden, rrp £10.99.

By Ant. I was very pleased to see the great oracle, David Attenborough, last week telling us all about global warming, and, to avoid it, amongst other actions, to buy locally produced food. When David says ‘do it’ you really feel as though you should. My bike is out the garage, the composter half full and all electrical appliances switched off.
Of course you and I have been buying ‘local’ for a long time and just want the opportunity to buy more local goods and see the world stay as it is. BigBarn will be building local supply chains, with or without the ‘big boys’ and making buying local more convenient for all those who want it.
BigBarn is not here to make pots of money and our team fly off to Barbados, we are here for the long term. We want to form a community of Food producers and Food users and is why we are thinking of becoming a Community Interest Company that cannot be sold off unless it is in the interest of our community. Once set up our actions and objectives have to be in line with our ‘Mission Statement’ and in the best long-term interest of our community.
So to join us and have your say register here to get our monthly emailed newsletter or to have your say, about this or anything else, please add a comment below.

Big organic box-loads of you have entered our recent competitions and we’re now as excited as a food lover at a farmer’s market to announce the winners.

Burt’s Chips competition

Winner: Sue Dewar from the Isle of Mull

Sue wins a hamper of Burt’s Chips and BigBarn Chilli Sauce

Ian Walker competition

Winner: Lynn Collison

Lynn wins a meal, cooked by Ian Walker, at her house, using ingredients from within a 30 mile radius.

Runners Up:

Sharon Clarke, Cambridge
Jane Hodder, Shelford
Cheryl Buxton, Chester
David Wright, Redditch
Christine Piercy, Hull
April Towers, Lancaster
Jan Messenger
Barbara Webster, Hull
Lou Kellett
Alison Prenty

The 10 runners up all receive a copy of Ian Walker’s Book, 30 Miles – A Local Journey in Food. We’ll be in touch with you all if we don’t have your address yet.