With all this rain, we're now looking forward to a great summer, with plenty of locally grown greens ready just in time for Christmas. Locally grown stone fruit has taken a bit of a battering with the rain, but there will still be plenty around for healthy summer snacks over the next few months.

Check out our summer recipe guide, for some quick and easy recipe ideas to get you inspired to try something new. We've included a delicious recipe for Organic Panforte, a traditional Italian Christmas treat, which is actually really easy to make, and there is a delicious Potato Salad Supreme recipe to share with friends at your next gathering, or to take along to a picnic.

Opening hours for the Christmas and New Year period can be found here... and you'll be pleased to note that Ripe will be open on both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, so you can pick up all your supplies for special meals.

From all of us at Ripe - We wish you all the best for a Safe and Happy Holiday Season, and look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year.

Spring is here, and with it we have some great local produce. Eating seasonally, the appearance of the new spring vegetables is something of an event... Asparagus, artichokes, broadbeans and the fantastic new season garlic are all now making appearances in-store. Fresh organic Broccoli is in abundance, which means the price has dropped, and the fresh greens are benefiting from the warmer weather and the spring rains.

Artichokes are a delicacy that many of us might have enjoyed at restaurants, but may be unsure of how to prepare them at home. They are a little fiddly, but once you've got the hang of it, they are really pretty easy. Locally grown artichokes from Koo-wee-rup are on special this week at Ripe, so we thought a few tips might be helpful for how to prepare them. Read more about how to prepare artichokes.

Locally grown asparagus is also from Koo-wee-rup, an area famous for the quality of their asparagus. We've put together a few new ideas for serving this lovely spring vegetable, so take advantage of the good prices and celebrate spring with asparagus. Read more about asparagus.

While we wait for the new season of fruit to begin, with apricots, mangos and stonefruits,  the pears and apples are still pretty good. The locally grown pears from Yarra Orchard in Templestowe are lovely, and are great for making into fruit warm desserts. Try this recipe for pear and passionfruit crumble.

100 Mile Organic Winter Dinner
There really are a multitude of reasons to choose to eat locally....one can really pick and choose depending on political persuasions, but fundamentally, we should all realise that it is better for everyone if as much food as possible is grown and eaten locally...

Keep the money in the local economy - support our local growers so that they can survive the drought. Eating locally produced food from small farms is an excellent way to maintain food standards and organic integrity, quality is valued over quantity.
Reduce our food miles - rising costs of transport push food prices up, and contribute massively to air pollution... Most food is trucked by road or air in Australia.
Food is fresher - When food is grown locally, produce is picked and delivered to markets within hours, meaning you get the freshest food possible, without extended time stored in refrigerated trucks or storerooms.
Diversity - Supporting Local food means that farmers can grow a more diverse range of crops, which is better for biodiversity and farm health, and provides us with more variety throughout the year.
Keep it real, eat seasonal - It is better for our health to eat what is in season,- what grows in our local climate is usually what is healthy for us to eat, and eating this way keeps us in touch with the changes and seasonal diversity of the year.

  ABC recently reported on a recent study of food miles in Australia, which found a typical shopping basket has traveled some 70,803 kilometers to reach Melbourne. That really is insane. This week we've decided to put together the first of a series of local meal plans, highlighting some local food producers who are located close to Melbourne. Whilst aiming to use food grown within 100 miles of Melbourne, there are a few growers slightly further afield who I've mentioned as the closest producers... but really the aim is to reduce food miles, and get in touch with the reality of the choices we make each time we sit down to dinner.
Click on the recipes to read more:

 Our beautiful mushrooms are grown by Ron, at Black Raven farm in Stathewen; baby leeks and silverbeets are grown at Spring Creek. Shane delivers us with his local Frefarm eggs, which are in good supply at the moment, and the lovely women at Holy Goat (near Castlemaine) provide the healthy and delicious fromage frais. All our potatoes are local at the moment, from  Wombat Forest Organics, which is located on top of the Great Dividing Range at Lyonville, near Daylesford. Our salads are grown by Andy Morris, of Australian Green Growers, and our lemons are local as well. So far so good.... all these ingredients are well within 100 miles (160 km) of Melbourne, and certified organic. For olive oil, our most local growers are just a little further afield, in the drier regions near the foothills of the Grampians. Choose from Toscana olive oil or Laharum Grove, both beautiful, well priced olive oils.
If you can find locally grown rosemary at the market, well I suggest you go for a quick walk around the neighbourhood and see how locally you can source this  common garden ingredient!