Eating Seasonally: What to Grow (and Eat!) in Autumn
Happy September! Fall is in the air, or maybe that’s just my wishful thinking and perusing of Toast’s autumn line of warm coats and knee-high boots. Here in Southern California, we’re cooling off a bit (80s!), and after a week of 90+ days, that’s reason enough to dream of cooler fall weather. With kids and grad students stuffing their backpacks with books, it’s beginning to look a lot like autumn.
As fall arrives, I start to slow down and look forward to darker nights filled with books to read and more time for wooly thoughts. What does your garden look like it settles in to fall? Do you worry that you’re post-growing season, and will have to spend more time in the grocery aisles, calculating the air and truck miles from where your greens were grown?
Get back to your garden, it’s not too late to plant! Check out Colleen Vanderlinden’s post on TreeHugger.com to find what there’s still time to sow in your region, from spinach and arugula to Bok Choy and radishes for colorful fall stews and salads. My dream future farmhouse looks a lot like this, with a long table to entertain friends and family in the fall.
Fall is also Vata season, according to the Ayurvedic tradition, a way of life which tells us that eating what grows in season is not only a way to live more locally, but also the best way to find balance within your body and the colder climes and windier days of fall. Yoganonymous offers tips for eating in autumn, to help you stay rooted to earth. One of my favorite parts of the fall is color: warm reds, oranges, and browns. The site highlights that “colors contribute greatly to balance in the body. According to Ayurveda, everything in the universe is energetic and gives off a vibration, colors too. Since autumn is a cooler season, one can balance this climate by turning to warmer, richer hues — yellows, oranges and reds. Nature sets the example, wearing her deep reds and burnt oranges to balance the coolness that surrounds.”
How will you grow color this fall? Share your garden or foodie photos with us @TheCityFarm and @RebeccaSnavely.
P.S. – How’s the pumpkin patch coming along?
(Photo: Lover.ly)
