Fall Veggies Shopping Guide

If you follow me on Instagram @wellnessbyhelen then you know how much I love hugging carrots. The fact that this happens naturally and that veggies can grow like this is just too cute to handle; it’s incredibly heartwarming to me especially because I firmly believe that energy is everything, and that hugging is a fundamental human need for feeling loved, acknowledged and compassionate. Did you know that it only takes a 6 second hug to establish a bond with someone?

The natural growing season for carrots is late summer to early fall, which means they just came back in season in the Northern Hemi since we just phased into fall earlier this week. When shopping for carrots, look for the most colorful ones for the best nutrient availability and of course the heirloom varieties, which coincidentally ups your chances of finding hugging ones. 

More color = more nutrients across the board when it comes to fruits and veggies.

Always always always always A L W A Y S eat in season.

You live on this planet.

You live in a specific geographical region, which your body understands.

You are subject to the laws of nature and you can’t go anywhere where they don’t apply to you.

(Understanding this fundamental principle is one of the key things in regaining your health and in preventing imbalance or dis-eases. )

Nature has the antidote for everything (cooling foods grow in the hot summer months, nourishing foods grow in the colder winter months) and it always provides what your body inherently knows will balance and nourish you. Farming has changed this a bit and international importing and exporting has changed this a lot, but that doesn’t mean that because something is available to you all year round, that it is a wise choice to eat it. Food is information for your body, and the easier this information is to understand, the more easily your body will digest your food, transform it into nutrients, properly use this info to make new cells and energy, and the better quality of physical / emotional / mental body you will have, alongside a steadier expereince of your life. Why? Because what you eat becomes you, and if you don’t feel really good in your body you simply cannot experience your life fully.

Call it cosmic intelligence, creative genius or mother earth’s wisdom, but it knows what its doing which is why certain foods only grow at certain times of the year. It’s worth it to look them up and to adjust accordingly. Food has properties, and medicinal properties for that matter, so WHAT you eat and WHEN you eat them matters incredibly when it comes to balancing yourself. And you will only ever experience a discomfort, pain, ache, malady or disease when you’re imbalanced.

So which foods should you focus on for fall?

The Fall Veggie Shopping List:

• Herbs: Rosemary / Parsley / Thyme / Sage

• Artichokes

• Arugula

• Beets

• Belgian endives / chicories

• Broccoli Rape / Rapini / Broccolini

• Beets

• Brussels sprouts

• Cabbage

• Cauliflower

• Celery root / Celeriac / Celery

• Chard

• Chilies

• Edamame

• Eggplant

• Fennel

• Garlic

• Green beans

• Horseradish

• Jerusalem Artichokes / Sunchokes

• Kale

• Kholrabi

• Leeks

• Lemongrass

• Lettuce

• Okra

• Onions

• Parsnips

• Pumpkins

• Potatoes

• Radicchio

• Radishes

• Shallots

• Shelling Beans

• Spinach

• Sweet Potatoes

• Tomatillos

• Turnips / Rutabagas (yellow turnips, Swedes)

• Wild Mushrooms

• Winter Squash

• Zucchini

Notice the pattern in warm, nourishing, Vata balancing veggies- foods that balance the cold, dry, mobile nature of Vata by providing us stability, grounding and sustenance. Nature is just so friggin’ intelligent! 

I wish I could take credit for these hugging carrots, but credit is due to @food52 who has the most delicious looking food photo’s you’ve ever seen. Check them out!

Fall food list by The Spruce Eats.

To your health! xo Helen