Berry good time to be health conscious

John is looking at healthy crops in the garden this week

For those of us not working during lockdown it has been a new way to see modern living with plenty of time to look at what we are doing now compared to life before the pandemic. Folk living in flats without a garden or an allotment have my full sympathy. However those with gardens and allotments and plenty of time on their hands are seeing a new way to live.

As lockdown has closed so many restaurants, shops and pubs it has not been so easy to go out for a meal, or even get a takeaway.

Junk food is harder to find and that is no a bad thing. Folk are now growing more of their own fruit and vegetables with their kids involved from seed sowing to planting then on to harvesting. Getting them to do a bit of weeding is a harder task!

The adults just love to see fresh fruit and vegetables harvested and ready to eat in the same day, and totally chemical free.

Just a pity there may be a few small slugs on the lettuce and the odd greenfly hiding in the kale, and you soon learn how to find those wee maggots in the raspberries, and the odd caterpillar in the cauliflower.

We all have more time now to practise new cooking skills, especially as plenty magazines have numerous recipes to try out.

Folk are slowly learning that a more healthy lifestyle has many benefits and as we grow our own food we get plenty of exercise, and allotment life is quite sociable as we can still chatter from a distance over the garden fence.

Plot-holders today are from all over the world including China, Philippines

Most plot-holders have no problem getting their five fruits and vegetables a day, and many including myself are often on 10 a day with a good salad

and Japan, so we learn how to grow exotic crops as well as our tried and tested potatoes, cabbages, peas and turnips. People are now looking at the health benefits of fruit and vegetables as well as taste. Most plot-holders have no problem getting their five fruits and vegetables a day and many, including myself, are often on 10 a day if you include a good salad.

Some of my favourite foods with ample health benefits will include: Black fruits such as grapes, blackcurrants, chokeberry, blueberries and saskatoons, are all high in vitamin C and antioxidants, especially the chokeberry but as the fruit is a wee bit astringent it is best cooked in compote, sauces or in jams, and also makes a very tasty and healthy red wine.

Rhubarb was for a long time the poor man’s fruit, but now it is being recognsed as very healthy, being high in antioxidants, and the minerals calcium and potassium. It is also very tasty in tarts, crumbles and stewed.

Nearly every allotment plot will have a clump of rhubarb.

Strawberries are high in fibre, vitamins C and K and the minerals manganese and potassium, and figs are