Category: EW Blog

Posted on by — 2 Comments

Bountiful Wyoming

Farmer Fred

Good sauerkraut, in deed the finest, requires care and attention. Fred Groenke – known across Wyoming as “Farmer Fred” – has that sauerkraut touch, which he has honed making ‘kraut over the past 25 years. Fred jokes that he’s, “Only good at shredding cabbage and digging in the dirt.”

Fred named his William Frederick’s Finest Sauerkraut after his father, from whom he learned his sauerkraut secrets. Fred’s ‘kraut is known well beyond his Lander farm for its flavor and freshness. Farmer Fred’s customers, from backyard grill masters to restaurant chefs, rank his sauerkraut as mighty fine. Fred contributes this to an extended cold fermentation; no additives or preservatives; and timely processing of the cabbage. Farmer Fred produces USDA-certified organic and conventional cabbage sauerkraut, both green cabbage sauerkraut and red cabbage sauerkraut. At his USDA-certified organic farm, Fred grows several tons of cabbage. He is also licensed as a USDA-certified organic handler. As such, he can purchase USDA-certified organic cabbage from other farms for his sauerkraut.

Farmer Fred only produces raw sauerkraut — it is never heated, treated with souring agents (such as vinegar), or any other preservatives or additives. Fred only uses two ingredients: cabbage and salt. This is the traditional recipe. William Frederick’s Finest Sauerkraut is processed in Fred’s State of Wyoming licensed and inspected kitchen. There, Fred cleans, shreds and packs cabbage into fermentation crocks. Adjacent to the kitchen is the fermentation room and cold storage. The sauerkraut ferments for 21 days at a consistent temperature for optimal production of healthy probiotics.

Posted on by

Don’t Bust Your Jaw on Mutton

The Lamb Guys

Eat Wyoming Lamb

Who are your guys? You’ll find your lamb guys ranching near Douglas. The Boner and Moore families raise sheep and cattle out on the rolling sagebrush grasslands. They market their Wyoming-grown lamb through The Lamb Guys. It’s a nickname turned business name that grew from friends and neighbors knowing to call the Boners and Moores for good lamb meat.


You, too, can know The Lamb Guys. And, you can serve their lamb at your table.

Posted on by

You Eat Wyoming Beef, Right?

Wyoming Cowboy Cuts

Here in the Cowboy State, our ranchers raise beef in every flavor. Do you know your favorite? On www.eatwyoming.com, the virtual farmers’ market of Wyoming, you can order beef from ranchers across the state – such as Tyler and Angela of Wyoming Cowboy Cuts in Pavillion, Wyo.  – and have it delivered to your doorstep.

Real Meat. Raised Here.

  • We connect you with your food, which is only as far as our ranch is from your house.
  • We care about our animals’ quality of life and raise them in a sustainable manner.
  • Yep, we’re cowboys from the cows to Wyoming’s Cowboy Code by which we live.
  • We believe it’s an act of love to gather family and friends around good food.

The ranchers behind Wyoming Cowboy Cuts know their meats’ “terroir”— the taste developed from their beef cattle’s growing environment — embodies the flavors of Wyoming’s soil, topography and climate. Ranchers Tyler and Angela McCann established their Wyoming Cowboy Cuts meat business to sell real meat, raised here, directly to folks.

The McCanns’ cattle are born and raised on the undulating sagebrush steppe of the family’s Hancock Ranch. The calves, when weaned from their mother cows, travel 72 miles to Tyler’s and Angela’s farm. There, the beef cattle reside in irrigated pastures, and, in addition to their grass diet, eat a corn, oat and barley grain supplement. The McCanns’ daughters, the family ranch’s sixth generation, often pet the beef cattle at their twice daily grain feedings.

As the fifth generation of the family’s ranch, Angela and Tyler value tradition and the American Dream. Angela’s grandfather and grandmother purchased the ranchlands where, today, the McCanns’ cattle graze. When Angela’s grandparents married, her grandfather owned a saddle and bedroll, and her grandmother had a few cooking pots and a sewing machine. The McCanns’ honor their family’s hard work by furthering the ranch business’s environmental and financial sustainability for the next generation — their daughters.

Tyler and Angela know what it takes to raise flavorful, nutritious beef. They value quality, for their family and yours. At home, Tyler evaluates, and highlights, their beef’s terroir through his charcuterie hobby. The McCann family’s favorite recipe? Carne crudo. To taste the flavors of Wyoming yourself, order your family’s beef and lamb from Cowboy Cuts.

Posted on by

Know Your Farmers, and Eat Your Microgreens

Lake View Gardens

Back when, Wyoming cowboys suffered for locally grown fresh greens. Not anymore! Lake View Gardens produces microgreens, lettuces and other vegetables in hydroponic, geothermal greenhouses perched above Ocean Lake near Pavillion. Dirk and Sue Gosnell pay Wyoming winter no mind to grow fresh greens for Wyoming, and its cowboys, all year long. You, too, can feed your family and friends the freshest veggies around. Look for Lake View Gardens microgreens and fresh produce in the Eat Wyoming VeggieBoxes and on EatWyoming.com .

Posted on by

Nutritional Value of Eating Local

veggibox banner

Our overall health is largely determined by our diet and the food we eat, and whether those foods are nutrient-dense or nutritionally depleted. In 2004, a landmark study compared the nutritional content of 43 different fruits and vegetables from 1950 and 1999. Using data from the United State Department of Agriculture, the research found that produce harvested in 1999 contained significantly less protein, calcium, potassium, iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin C, suggesting that “any real declines are generally most easily explained by changes in cultivated varieties.” In other words, nutritional content has deteriorated in exchange for higher volume. 

It’s not hard to see why or how this happened. Today, industrial agriculture and big box retailers have managed to develop a supply chain that provides Wyoming with strawberries in January. As unnatural as this may be agriculturally, today’s consumer demands it. This, in conjunction with an exploding population, has forced farmers to change virtually every step of harvesting produce, from soil cultivation to transportation to distribution. And as beneficial as widely available fruits and vegetables may be, it comes with a trade-off; they’re not nearly as good for you as they should be.

Soil for higher yields is stripped of minerals and nutrients

Industrial agriculture is monocultural, meaning that the same soil produces massive quantities of a single crop year after year. It requires year-round harvesting, and the use of numerous harsh herbicides and pesticides. This forces the soil to work much harder under tougher conditions, ultimately stripping it of minerals and nutrients it would otherwise pass into plants. The point of monocultural farming isn’t to make nutritious, tasty food; it’s to harvest larger, pest-resistant crops with higher growth rates.

Transportation requires produce to be picked before its ripened 

When a Wyoming grocery store buys tomatoes from either Florida or California, the nation’s leading producers of tomatoes, it can obviously take a long time to get there. And depending on by whom and how they’re transported, those tomatoes are exposed to varying levels of air, artificial lights and temperature fluctuations. Fruits and vegetables are most nutritious and taste best when they’re picked at the peak of freshness, and they start losing nutrients around 24 hours after being picked. It can take a week for these tomatoes just to arrive in Wyoming, then several days more before they’re purchased from the store. So those tomatoes have to be picked when they’re green and hard – well before they’re ready and well before they’re able to mature into their most nutritious state. 

Grocery stores’ practices are designed to preserve produce as long as possible 

Retailers have varying standards for maintaining and selling produce. Big box retailers are working with thousands of items of inventory and dozens of employees. The longer they’re able to keep fruits and vegetables from rotting, the longer they’re able to sell them. Preserving a plant in a form that would be attractive to customers is a much higher priority than maintaining nutritional integrity. It’s common practice for grocers to use wax that will make apples gleam and make cucumbers last days longer than their natural shelf life. 

The care and storage of produce is a complicated process, so education is an important component, especially when you’re managing dozens of different fruits and vegetables in one store. Zucchini, for example, has a high respiration rate, so if it’s not given adequate ventilation in the right temperature, it will respirate and mold faster. But large numbers of employees and high turnover rates make it impossible for large retailers to adequately educate their staff on all the intricacies of giving that zucchini all the love and care it deserves.

There are more nutritious options available

Plants are a lot like people. To be at their best, they need adequate nutrition, rest and attention. Industrial agriculture provides massive amounts of food to massive amounts of people, which is critical for society. As essential as this is, it does come at the expense of nutritional value. Fortunately, there are alternatives.

Healthy soil results in healthy fruits and vegetables

At Lloyd Craft Farms in Worland, nutrition is the priority. It’s Terri and Lloyd Craft’s mission to provide the kind of food they want to serve their family. “People are amazed at how much better fresh produce tastes. It’s a combination of mineral-rich soil, the weather and how quickly we’re able to get it to people. We’ve been doing this for 11 years, so we’ve spent that time building the soil back up,” Terri said. 

They spent their few first years in business harvesting their land. Robust, diverse crops, an off-season to replenish, and constant care have resulted in soil crawling with worms, which is the kind of soil healthy enough to naturally fight pests and disease without chemicals. It’s the kind of soil that isn’t possible to cultivate on a large scale. 

The less distance produce travels, the better

Wyoming weather may not seem conducive to growing flavorful, nutrient-dense produce, but according to Terri, the dry conditions are actually ideal. Although the growing season is shorter here, the desert climate of the Big Horn Basin mean she doesn’t have to worry about mold or fungus. Mild summer temperatures afford her cool mornings to harvest her crops and immediately refrigerate them. They’re boxed that afternoon, returned to the cooler for overnight storage, then delivered across the state in a refrigeration truck, which Terri says is key for maintaining nutrients. 

“Plants are living things. When vegetables and fruits are removed from the mother plant, they stop growing and they stop producing nutrients,” Terri said. Local farmers keep fruits and vegetables on the mother plant until they’re ready to be picked, because it doesn’t take a week to get it to the store. Additionally, Wyoming producers know the best ways to distribute across Wyoming, so they better control variants like air, light and temperature. So those tomatoes that were imported from California and Florida picked when they’re green and hard could come from a Wyoming grower, and picked when they were deliciously red and soft, and at their most nutritious.

Local farmers partner with smaller retailers 

While delivery is technically the end of Terri’s portion of the supply chain, she won’t drop her produce off just anywhere. “Having people on the other end who are as passionate and knowledgeable as you are is so important. They need to baby the plants like you do,” she said. She works with retailers who are educated on nuances like the high respiration rates of zucchini, because she believes that her plants, and the people who eat them, deserve better.

How can I eat more nutritionally?

So if accessing the freshest, most nutritious produce is a priority in your family, there are a few things you can do:

  • Eat produce in season
  • Buy food that was grown close to you
  • Purchase from smaller farmers

In other words, eat locally. #EatWyoming

Posted on by

How to Extend Your Growing Season

Joe Wesnitzer of Papa Joe's Produce in Sheridan, Wyoming

Food producers and retailers across Wyoming want locally grown food year-round, but it’s a cyclical challenge. Producers don’t want to make the investment of greenhouses and season extenders without guaranteed demand for product, and retailers can’t rely on locally grown food if they’re not sure of supply. But the good news for producers, retailers and consumers is that the proof of concept, both in terms of quality of food and in consumer demand, is already there. Everyone just needs to get on the same page to figure out how to make year-round food happen. And this is happening. A group of committed partners including the Wyoming Food Coalition, Eat Wyoming, producers and retailers are finally all working together to solve this chicken and egg problem – even if Wyoming isn’t necessarily known as a poultry state.

Wyoming’s interest in locally grown foods is growing

Joe Wesnitzer, the namesake of Papa Joe’s Produce in Sheridan, has seen interest in locally grown food explode over the last six years. When Wesnizter first began farming, it was a passion project supplemented by his full-time job. He loved growing, and he wanted to give his community the option of healthier and tastier locally grown foods. He started selling his lettuce and herbs at local farmers market throughout the summer months, but he quickly realized demand was much bigger than a part-time hobby. Local retailers were interested in carrying his product, and restaurants wanted to use Papa Joe’s Produce in their dishes. But to fulfill these contracts, he couldn’t just grow by himself June through September. Three greenhouses, two high tunnels, two employees and tens of thousands of pounds of lettuce later, Wesnitzer is just getting started.

“As each community gets to know their local producers, demand only grows. The local food movement has been dramatic here in Sheridan, and I’m confident that if there were something like this in every town, we could keep trucks off the road, healthier foods in our communities and our economy would grow,” Wesnitzer said. Though his greenhouses were initially a steep out-of-pocket investment, they’ve become financially sustainable. A “retired” farmer, Wesnitzer doesn’t prioritize sales, but due to the increase in demand for locally grown products, he continues to organically acquire new customers and contracts. 

Contract and other large-scale opportunities for bulk sales exist and are expanding

Wyoming Food Coalition President Adam Bunker believes this trend will continue upward, so his organization, along with a network of producers, restauranteurs, wholesalers, retailers and other agencies, are working to guarantee it. All of these groups need each other, but up until now, they’ve largely been siloed, which has been at the detriment of everyone on the supply chain: producers, retailers down to your Wyoming neighbor consumers.

“What we need to do is approach these topics from positions of collaborations,” Bunker said. This December, the Vibrant Farmers and Infrastructure working group of the Wyoming Food Coalition is organizing a first-of-its-kind Wyoming food buyers and sellers conference, which will bring farmers together with major wholesalers like restauranteurs, retail grocers and even school districts. This conference has been in the works for years, but by finally bringing everyone to the same (well-stocked) table, producers can learn what kind of demand exists and retailers can learn how robust the supply is.

Demand for locally grown food has always existed, but quantity has always been the major challenge, Bunker says. School districts want to serve healthier produce to their students, but that contract requires massive volume. Similarly, restaurants and retail grocers want to be part of the locally grown foods craze, but they’ve been hesitant about reliability in the same ways that growers have been hesitant about investing in off-season growing equipment. “The opportunities are there, and one of our main initiatives is empowering everyone to be able to work together,” he said.

In addition to the upcoming conference, the Wyoming Food Coalition, Eat Wyoming and other agencies are educating stakeholders on the benefits of locally grown foods for Wyoming’s health – both nutritionally and our bottom line. For restaurants, simply comparing the price of local and national retailers is only a small part of the story, because freshness pays dividends. Locally grown produce may appear to have a higher price tag, but it’s typically harvested within just 24 hours of delivery, as opposed to days or even weeks prior like national suppliers, so restaurants are forced to throw out produce that has gone bad. Eliminating waste and serving better food pays for itself. On the retail end, smaller grocers are excited to make shelf space for locally grown foods, and even national retailers are becoming more of a possibility with Fresh Foods Wyoming currently in talks with Whole Foods in Jackson.

Opportunities for locally grown food doesn’t stop at restaurant menus or on grocery store shelves. Legislators are seeing economic potential for farming as our state finds new ways to supplement revenue. Food will be a valuable way to keep money in Wyoming, and we don’t even need to diversify our portfolio to achieve this; legislators are learning they just need to support existing growers who are already here and working. 

Resources are available to prepare your business

Of course, for restaurants, grocers and legislators to rely on locally grown foods, it has to be available year-round, so greenhouses and season extenders will be critical, which can put producers under pressure. The best way to know if your business is ready to make that kind of investment is to understand the minutiae of your finances, he says. “Producers, take time to know your numbers. I know that can be scary. But when you take time to learn that, it takes all of the uncertainty out of doing business, so you can adjust your wholesale and retail prices. Knowing those numbers is critical to making the business side of growing work,” he said. 

For help understanding these numbers, Bunker recommends reaching out to the Wyoming Small Business Development Center. It’s a free resource to anyone in Wyoming, and their financial models will help growers understand their fixed costs, sales volume and pricing structure, all of which are crucial information to become a profitable business. It can also help put a big investment like a greenhouse into context, including feasibility and the time it would take for that investment to pay off. Additionally, the SBDC helps with other business requirements, like registering as an LLC, tax planning, marketing and other resources that can make a business as viable as Wyoming-grown produce.

Big things are coming for Wyoming-grown food

Northern Wyoming has a 100-day growing season, Papa Joe Wesnitzer estimates, but the most basic a season extender gives him 40-60 extra days on both sides. It can double his season. Most extenders require little to no maintenance, and some covers last up to ten years. Wesnitzer encourages growers to begin with high tops and other season extenders to see how these additional days can turn into more dollars for your bottom line. The demand is already there, and it’s becoming even bigger with contracts soon to follow. Wyoming needs our best producers, like you, to be part of it. Think of how it can all grow. 

Posted on by

Let Food Be Thy Medicine

blank

So proclaimed Hippocrates, but what does that mean in everyday life? Explore a handful of awesome foods you can add to your palate today and learn how they benefit your health!

Mother Earth News | Originally published in April of 2018 | By Laura Berlage, North Star Homestead Farms

Dan Buettner, in his recent TED talk that shared lessons learned in the study of vibrant centurions, noted that longevity is 10% genetics and 90% lifestyle choices.  Second on his list after meaningful social connections was “Eat Wisely.”

Of course, we’ve all heard the message that we need to pay attention to what we eat, in tandem with leading an active lifestyle, but what does that actually mean in an everyday practice?  How can we get to that place where the Greek physician Hippocrates’s admonition of “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” has a real and profound impact on our own lives?

The answer is not as daunting or complex as it may seem.  “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants” says renowned food expert and journalist Michael Pollan, which is a great guiding principle when making that key choice about what’s for dinner.  In this article, I’ll unpeel the benefits of a few awesome foods you can add to your wellness toolkit this week.  Why not try eating your way to a more vibrant you?!

Kale

Top of the list for super foods, kale is a member of the broccoli family.  It’s rich in magnesium, potassium, and vitamin C—a combination that makes it even more potent than spinach for lowering blood pressure.  In some cases, consuming kale regularly has been shown to lower blood pressure as much as taking a blood pressure medication.  Add kale to your salad, soups, eggs, and stir fries.

Blueberries

Packed with the highest intensity of antioxidants, which help fight aging and certain types of cancer, blueberries can also help lower your cholesterol and reduce the risk of diabetes.  The chemical that gives these berries their blue color (anthocyanin) is the source of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.  Blueberries are low in calories and are known to help improve memory!  Make fresh or frozen blueberries a healthy snack choice, add them to your oatmeal or granola, and mix them in your smoothies.

Green Tea

Savored since ancient times for its health benefits, green tea has not only its own antioxidants (catechin) but also promotes your body’s ability to make nitric oxide, which has been shown to increase arterial diameter by 40%, lowering blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 31%.  Macha green tea, especially, has been linked with preventing several common cancers and can even be beneficial for dental health.  Studies in Japanese society (where green tea consumption is more common), showed that drinking several cups a day offered major decreases in mortality rates from all causes.  Green tea does contain caffeine, so you can swap out your coffee at the next break when you need a warm, uplifting cup.

Fish

Two to three servings per week of fish increases the Omega3 fatty acids in the diet, which improves cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.  Most of our dietary vegetable oils are high in Omega6, which, by themselves, are harmful to heart health.  Increasing Omega3 intake in proportion against Omega6 reduces risk substantially, whether this is sourced from fish, walnuts, duck eggs, olive oil, or flax seed, for example.  Oily fish like salmon are preferred for this purpose, though generally eating more fish than red meats is a healthy choice.  Tilapia raised in a clean environment has also been shown to be hearth healthy, with its boost of magnesium, potassium, and calcium.  And no, this doesn’t mean eating more fried fish because the cooking oils bring in more of those Omega6 rates again!  So poach, bake, broil, grill, or pan-fry in olive oil your next serving of clean-raised fish.

Garlic

With an active ingredient of allicin, this aromatic Sulphur compound is released when the cloves are crushed, chopped, or chewed.  But it’s valuable for more than just its culinary characteristics.  Just two cloves a day may lower blood pressure as effectively as a prescription medicine after 24 weeks, as well as can lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 10-15%.  Garlic can help stabilize blood sugar levels and aid in preventing cancer, so chop them up and add them to all sorts of dishes, including roasting them with your favorite root vegetables. 

Yogurt

When they say “go with your gut,” it’s true.  Research is continually finding connections between the health of the bacteria in our gut and our emotional and mental well-being.  But not all of the flora in your alimentary tract are friendly.  Foods rich in natural and healthy bacteria cultures, like yogurt, help to improve and maintain beneficial bacteria.  There are more microbes in your gut than cells in your body, so keeping that colony happy and healthy is no small undertaking!  Make sure your choice of yogurt is labeled as having “live” or “active” culture.  It’s high levels of calcium and vitamin D can also help to prevent osteoporosis and other bone ailments.  Have some yogurt with your blueberries for breakfast or a snack, and try plain, unsweetened yogurt in a variety of savory dishes for a fun twist.

Dark Chocolate

Yes, you read that right, chocolate (in small amounts) is actually good for you.  70% cocoa or more kicks this treat into the healthy bracket.  Rich with flavonoids (which dilate blood vessels), dark chocolate has been found to improve blood pressure and your mood.  Consuming just 30 calories a day (one small square from a classic chocolate bar) has been demonstrated after 18 weeks to be effective in lowering blood pressure and raising HDL (good) cholesterol.  More is not better, though, because of the refined sugars.  So take your daily dose of a square of dark chocolate without having to apologize to anyone!

Ready to eat your way into vibrancy?  I hope you try including these delicious and healthy foods into your grocery list, pantry, refrigerator, and regimen.  Why not?  And there’s all sorts of other foods that will help to improve health and well-being.  Go for foods with deep natural colors (beets, broccoli, oranges), strong natural aromas (cinnamon, basil, onions), and distinctive natural flavors (asparagus, cashews, watermelon).  These characteristics are often markers of chemical compounds that can have their own, distinctive health benefits to offer.

This week, let food be thy medicine of choice.  Watch for more upcoming tips on great foods for wellness and longevity.  See you down on the farm sometime.

Laura Berlage is a co-owner of North Star Homestead Farms, LLC and Farmstead Creamery & Café. 715-462-3453 www.northstarhomestead.com

Posted on by

Food Medicine: 5 Autumn Healers

Food Medicine: Apple, Beet, Carrot, Garlic, Pumpkin

Mother Earth gifts us every autumn with produce to heal seasonal illnesses and balance us with our natural environments.

Mother Earth News | November 5, 2020 | By Amanda Nicklaus

Now that we are post-autumnal equinox, mid-October, between a Harvest and Blue Moon, it is easy to notice the way the Earth is changing. The temperature has dropped, the leaves are dressing the trees in oranges and reds, the sky is becoming more overcast. A change of seasons makes it easier for us to have more heightened awareness than usual, and after the busyness of summer  —even a slower than usual pandemic summer — autumn offers us the chance to reflect on the year and prepare for the long cold months ahead.

Winter often brings illness and negatively-associated emotions. Thankfully, Mother Earth gifts us every autumn with produce to heal seasonal illnesses and balance us with our natural environments. We’re all aware that apples and pumpkins are in season now, as well as a variety of root vegetables. The Earth gives us exactly what we need; each of these foods holds medicinal and spiritual properties that align with the cooler seasons and bring us into balance.

Here are a few offerings from the earth that can heal and balance us this autumn:

Apples

Going apple picking at an orchard is a popular autumn activity, and while baking pies is a great way to enjoy this fall fruit, there are many reasons to make them a regular part of your diet. Apples are loaded with fiber and antioxidants and are a great source of vitamin C, which boosts immunity and keeps skin healthy. Apples also contribute to bone health and are anti-inflammatory. But this popular autumn fruit does more than just help your body fight off colds; as a symbol of love, health, wisdom, and abundance, you can use apples in your autumn and moon rituals to remind you of these qualities. And since apples have a red skin, you can use them to help balance your root chakra, helping you stay grounded through the long winter.

Beets

People either love beets or have never had them cooked right, and there are plenty of reasons to cook them until you love them. Beets have a variety of nutrients, such as fiber, iron, manganese, and vitamins B2, A, K, and C. They regulate blood flow, which is important when it starts to get cold and we lean toward a more sedentary lifestyle. Beets keep the heart and liver healthy, and they also aid digestion. The strong earthy taste of beets is a reminder that this root vegetable offers grounding qualities, and understandably, are another great food for balancing your root chakra. These deep red veggies also have a long history of being associated with passion, love, and beauty, so when the autumn and winter months begin to feel dreary, cook up a batch of beets to heighten your awareness of these necessary characteristics.

Carrots

Everybody has heard that carrots are good for your eyes, but this autumn root vegetable has much more to offer than good vision. Carrots are chock-full of vitamins A, K, B6, and C, which contribute to skin and brain health; they also contain potassium, fiber, and biotin. Carrots historically have been used to promote healthy pregnancies and ease cramps, which is hardly surprising. Orange foods balance the sacral chakra, which regulates creative and sexual flow, so if winter leaves you feeling empty and uninspired, add this vegetable into your diet!

Garlic

When you sense a cold and flu coming on, you might not think to reach for garlic, but there are plenty of reasons why you should! Garlic is used in both eastern and western medicine to prevent infection and influenza. Another vegetable containing Vitamin C and manganese, it is useful for detoxification and anti-inflammatory purposes. Maybe this is why garlic has developed a reputation for being used for protection, purification, and even exorcism. Keep lots of garlic around your home this autumn and winter (and not just for its healing properties; it also makes everything taste better!).

Pumpkins

We know we can carve pumpkins and bake them into pies, but what is lesser known is that this popular autumn food, like its orange carrot friends, is great for skin and eye health. Pumpkins contain vitamins A, B, C, and E, copper, potassium, fiber, and antioxidants. There are plenty of healthy savory ways to cook pumpkins—soups, curries, even pizzas—so don’t feel limited to pumpkin sweets, whose sugar content can weaken your immune system.

And this orange food is good for (you guessed it!) balancing your sacral chakra. Pumpkins symbolize abundance, generosity, home, and creativity, so decorating with them and increasing the intake of them in your diet does more than make it feel like fall; these autumn fruits can increase your sense of gratitude, which is key for maintaining mental and spiritual health, especially in autumn, when nature begins to minimalize its liveliness.

Winter has many beautiful aspects, but often these get lost in the negative qualities and the slow quality of time. To survive winter, we must be grounded, connected with our surroundings, aware of the very elements we endure. It makes sense, then, that we must eat more vegetables that grow directly in the ground, or ripen on the ground, foods that are red and orange, aligning with the chakras that keep our sense of groundedness and adaptability balanced. And it should come as no surprise that these vegetables and fruits contain the very nutrients we need to fight off winter illnesses and keep cold weather ailments, like dry skin, at bay.

There is no one way to maintain physical and spiritual health; each of us must tend to our own personal bodies, minds, and souls. Using foods that heal in universally similar ways, we can guide ourselves through the difficult, beautiful seasons. Mother Earth has given us all we need; it is up to us to receive and use what we have to heal ourselves and each other.

Amanda Nicklaus is a writer and aspiring urban homesteader based in Minneapolis. She spends her free time trying new recipes, going to farmers markets, and writing about everything she learns. Read all of Amanda’s MOTHER EARTH NEWS posts here.

All MOTHER EARTH NEWS community bloggers have agreed to follow our Blogging Guidelines, and they are responsible for the accuracy of their posts.