Spring has arrived. As the days begin to grow longer and the sunshine becomes more regular, garden beds and veggie patches have sprung to life. Now is the perfect time to take note of seasonal fruits and vegetables, so you can make the most of them when they are cheapest and tasting their best. While garden beds may have looked lifeless over the the winter months, seeds planted in Autumn have been working very hard and are now at the perfect time to harvest and eat. Fruits that are best this time of year, include Berries, Lemons, Limes, Mandarins and Strawberries. Green leafy vegetables, as well as the onion family are worth a look in spring, like Asian Greens, Cabbages, Lettuces, Spinach, Leek, Green Garlic and Spring Onion. And also look out for Artichokes, Asparagus, Beetroot, Beans, Fennel, New Potatoes and Peas. And while the warmer spring weather may bring smiles to many faces, it also has the tendency to bring runny noses and watery eyes when airborne pollens from grasses are at their peak. But luckily, some of the best foods for fighting off the symptoms of hay fever and the common cold are abundant at this time of year also. Onions are packed with the flavanoid quercetin, a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and natural anti-histamine, while garlic is thought to help with immunity. Green leafy vegetables are an excellent source of beta-carotene, which gets converted to vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A acts as an antioxidant and is important for healthy mucous membranes throughout the respiratory tract. It also helps immune function Finally Citruses, like lemons and limes, as well as berries are rich in vitamin C, which can help to maintain the body’s defence system, while there is also some thinking that eating foods rich in Vitamin C can help reduce the severity of cold and flu symptoms. So at this time of year, it’s important to remember to take the good with the bad, to stock up on in season produce and look after your health at the same time.