About the project

Why this is needed

The goal is a clear, verifiable picture of local food seasonality.

Seasonality depends on the region: the same product may start ripening and being harvested at different times depending on climate, variety, and growing conditions. That is why the atlas treats seasonality separately for each region, instead of offering a single calendar for an entire country.

The project is at an early stage and currently covers a limited number of regions in Russia. Geography and the product catalog are intended to expand gradually.

How seasonality works

In this atlas a season is, first of all, the typical local collection period: the harvest of an open-field crop, or of wild berries and mushrooms.

For each product and region the atlas records the start and end of the season and, when the evidence is strong enough, a peak period.

During the season the following phases may be shown:

• Beginning — the product is starting to appear in the fresh local harvest.
• In season — the main harvest period continues.
• Peak — the period of most active harvesting, when it can be determined from the available evidence.
• Ending — the season is drawing to a close.

If a separate peak period cannot be determined reliably, the atlas uses the overall season interval rather than inventing false precision.

Greenhouse production, imports, long storage, and year-round supermarket availability do not, by themselves, define the local harvest season.

Mushroom information in the atlas describes seasonality and culinary use and is not intended for field identification or determining edibility.

Regions

Seasonality is researched separately for each region.

At this stage, data has been collected only for some regions. Others may appear in the directory or on the map as “In progress”.

A region’s presence in the atlas does not mean that its seasonality research is complete. Coverage expands gradually as data is collected and reviewed.

A region page shows products for the selected month and their seasonality over the year. A product page lets you compare available seasons across researched regions.

Sources and confidence

Every published season interval is accompanied by one or more sources.

Priority is given to:

• official statistics and reports from agricultural authorities;
• materials from national and regional organizations;
• academic publications;
• specialist industry materials;
• other sources that can confirm a product’s growing or harvest period.

Sources do not always include exact start and end dates. A publication may confirm the start of mass harvesting or name a harvest month without giving a specific day.

That is why the data includes a confidence assessment:

• High — available sources support the season interval well.
• Medium — the period is supported by sources, but its bounds require some editorial interpretation.
• Approximate — sources allow a general period to be identified, but the exact bounds are estimated.
• Indicative — a useful regional harvest guide reconstructed from several consistent regional sources when full campaign start and end confirmation is incomplete. Lower confidence than Approximate.

The atlas marks data as approximate or indicative rather than creating an impression of precision that the sources do not support.

You can find more about the methodology, sources, and how the data is prepared in About the data.

Limitations

The atlas shows typical seasonality, not a harvest forecast for a specific year.

Actual dates may shift because of:

• weather;
• microclimate;
• variety;
• growing practices;
• the specifics of a particular farm;
• frost, drought, and other weather events.

Treat the published intervals as a regional guide, not as an exact calendar for every farm.

The database is also still being filled in. Missing seasonality for a product in a given region may mean the data has not been researched yet — not that the product is not grown there.

Project and development

Seasonal Food Atlas is a growing directory of local food seasonality.

The main task now is to build a solid seasonality base for the first regions and products. As the atlas develops, the plan is to add regions, countries, and product categories, refine existing intervals with new sources, and improve tools for exploring the data.

How to report an error

Inaccuracies in seasonality, a product description, a source, or how a region is displayed can be reported at seasonalfoodatlas@gmail.com. If possible, include the product, the region, and a source that would help refine the data.