How to Roast Butternut Squash – Seven Step Simple Recipe

Squash is pretty much synonymous with fall in my house. Typically, during September we are up to our eyeballs in a bounty of harvest from our garden. Every countertop is stacked with squash, onions, potatoes, carrots, and beets. It’s a wonderful and busy time of year. To save time, I stick to simple but tasty recipes.
Image courtesy of Mean Miss Mustard
One of my favorite squashes is the butternut. Butternut squash is a yellow-orange fleshed fruit that has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor. This beautiful fall/winter squash offers a nutrient punch that is just what we need at the season’s change. Butternut squash is a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, and B-6.

One of the easiest ways to prepare this winter squash is to roast it and here I bring you my super simplified recipe. Winter squashes of all sorts will burst with flavor when roasted and all follow a similar preparation.

For this recipe you will need:

  • 1 butternut squash
  • approx. 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • optional: grass-fed butter

Simply:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Cut off stem side, just about an inch or two into the top side of squash. Discard this piece.
  3. Next, cut the squash in half, lengthwise.
  4. Scrape out the seeds and set aside.
  5. Lightly brush the cut flesh with extra virgin olive oil.
  6. Place cut side down on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet.
  7. Bake for 35 minutes or until squash is tender.

Spoon out onto individual plates, season with salt and pepper and add a bit of grass-fed butter if you wish.

A large squash will serve 4 as a side dish.

Other winter squash you might try preparing this way are pumpkin, acorn, and delicata.



Eat Vegetables First

I always think of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham when I am sharing the benefits of vegetables with clients and friends. There is often so much resistance. Can’t you just see it? “Could you, would you?” and the famous reply…“But I do not like them, …”

On my personal journey, the most difficult emotional shift I needed to make around food was to move meat from the center of my plate and replace it with amazing, nutrient dense vegetables. It was difficult only because of the mindset I’d had my entire life. When it came to considering what to make for dinner, I always started with the meat. My thoughts went something like, “What am I going to make for dinner? Well, chicken and potatoes and green beans.” I needed to shift this habit to be, “What am I going to make for dinner? Roots and shoots with a side of quinoa topped with a small slice of chicken breast.” You see, the meat became the optional side. It felt difficult only because of the thought pattern. Once I made the shift in my mind, the rest was easy.

We are just beginning to understand the role vegetables can play in our well-being. Nutrition is a young, complex, and ever evolving science. What we do know is that plant foods offer a diverse and deep well of nutrition that supports our body in creating energy, fighting off cancer, preventing early aging, and aiding our digestive tract. Vegetables also help us to have clear skin and sleep better, and they seem to prevent a myriad of diseases. Every vegetable offers something slightly different, but the nutrients in each plant work together synergistically in a way we cannot yet recreate in a lab. What does this mean? There is really no substitute for the real thing.

As an example, a single cup of spinach holds 888.5 mcg (micrograms) of vitamin K, 14742.0 IU of vitamin A, 1.7 mg of manganese, and 262.4 mcg of folate. It also contains amazing amounts of magnesium, iron, vitamin C, riboflavin, calcium, (where do you think elephants get their calcium from anyway?), potassium, B6, tryptophan, fiber, copper, B1, protein, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin E, omega 3 fatty acids, niacin, selenium, beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.  (Mateljan, 2007)

Adding vegetables to your diet can make a huge impact on how you feel and on your ability to reach your health and wellness goals. If you would like to focus on nutrient density, the ANDI food scoring guide will help you to choose foods with an amazing nutrient power pack. The trick here is diversity. Try mixing up your vegetables and changing up how you prepare them. In the beginning, you might feel resistant, the flavors and textures might be different than what you are used to, but by sticking with it, you and your taste buds will adapt. Whole, natural, foods have flavors that vary as widely as their colors – sometimes it’s in the preparation and sometimes it’s in the season and growing location.

Try this exercise:

Adding vegetables to your plate at every meal can be incredibly impactful. This will be a trial to identify what it feels like to have them more often and in greater amounts. As you work through the vegetables, if after a few tries you absolutely do not like a certain one, don’t force yourself to eat it. We don’t have to like all foods and by pushing ourselves to eat foods we dislike, we are trying to create an unsustainable habit. (I know I can’t stick with eating things I don’t like for very long so it’s okay if you can’t either.)

Begin by visiting the ANDI food scoring guide and choose a vegetable or two that you’d like to add to your plate over the next two weeks.

Take Action & Schedule It!

  1. What food(s) did you choose?
  2. Where will you get it?
  3. When will you get it?
  4. How will you prepare it?
  5. How many times will you have it?

Write your plans for your meals and track your food in a personal journal.

At the end of 14 days, come back and answer these questions:

  1. What did you try?
  2. How did you prepare it?
  3. What was your favorite way of having it?
  4. How often did you eat it?
  5. How do you feel?

Bringing awareness to your experience allows you to practice listening to your body and what’s working and what’s not. Watch for subtle shifts, greater energy, reduction of mind fog, and less bloating.

This article is an excerpt from Lessons for MomPositive Living, Attainable Wellness for Modern Moms written by Tammi Hoerner, INHC. This book is available for purchase here.

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Boost Health Without Sacrificing Yum – A Conversation With Food Babe, Vani Hari

How can you lose weight while still eating what you crave? Where can you find cheap options to eating healthy and yummy? What 6 simple habits can dramatically improve your overall wellbeing and help you lose weight naturally? In this interview, Food Babe, Vani Hari, will en”lighten” us.

Vani Hari is a revolutionary food activist, the creator of FoodBabe.com, the author of the #1 bestselling book, The Food Babe Way, and was named one of the Most Influential People On The Internet by Time Magazine. In her work, Hari has influenced how food giants like Kraft, Subway, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, and Starbucks create their products, steering them towards more healthful policies. Vani teaches people how to make the right purchasing decisions at the grocery store, how to live an organic lifestyle, and how to  travel healthfully. The success of her writing and investigative work can be seen in the way food companies react to her uncanny ability to find and expose the truth. She lives in North Carolina and travels around the world to speak about health and food awareness. She is currently planning her next campaign.

Cortney: On my first trip to Europe, 20 years ago, I was stunned by the almost total lack of obesity. Now historically fit populations–Europe, Japan, you name it–are catching up to the U.S. What would you say is the number one cause of this increase in obesity throughout the world? Toxic food, sedentary lifestyles, or something else?

Vani: Worldwide obesity is influenced by a number of things, including those that you mentioned. Obesity rates are going up all across the globe, and we need to ask more questions about the food we are eating and the chemicals that are polluting our environment as these may play a role. Certain chemicals that have infiltrated our food have been coined “obesogens”, and many of them are not listed on ingredient lists.

Obesogens include such things as pesticides, antibiotics, and food packaging materials, like plastics, that can leach chemicals into our food. As I explain in detail in my new book, The Food Babe Way, obesogens can trigger our bodies to store fat even though we might be restricting calories. The effects are complex. Some of these chemicals increase the number of fat cells, others expand the size of fat cells, and still others influence appetite, cravings, fullness, and how well the body burns calories. I’ve made it my mission to teach people to take a closer look at what they are eating, to read ingredient labels, know where it comes from, and to demand transparency from the companies that are feeding the world.

Tip #1: Read Ingredient Labels & Know What You’re Eating

Cortney: One of the things I love about The Food Babe Way is that it urges us to do more of what fit populations have always done; they eat simple, nutritious food at home. Could this one simple habit be the answer to the problems we were just talking about and the key to dramatically improving the quality of our lives and health?

Vani: No matter where you live, you have the choice to take your health into your owns hands or hand it over to food manufacturers. People who eat more food prepared in their homes avoid thousands of unnecessary food additives that they would otherwise be exposed to. I encourage everyone to prepare as many meals at home as possible. When I make food at my house it is far more nutritious and tastes way better than anything I could find at a restaurant. I created The Food Babe Membership Program for this reason, to provide anyone looking for extra guidance with an easy plan to follow for making healthy food at home.

Tip #2: Prepare Your Own Healthy Meals As Much As Possible

Cortney: My sister, who lives in suburban Illinois, tells me about how difficult it is to find a variety of toxic-free food nearby and how she has to pay more for fewer options. How can the right food choices at the right price point be made available to the majority?

Vani: Thankfully, more affordable organic food choices are becoming available in conventional grocery stores like Walmart, Target, and Kroger. However, I know that sometimes this isn’t even an option. Use Local Harvest to find local farmer’s markets, co-ops, and family farms, which are great sources of organic produce, grass-fed beef, fresh herbs, and other organic goodies. There are online organic grocery stores with competitive prices, such as Thrive Market, which is similar to a Whole Foods Market, but available to anyone with an Internet connection. Also, consider starting your own garden. You might think this is a crazy suggestion, but hear me out. Growing your own food isn’t as hard as you might think and it’s definitely the cheaper route to having access to healthy eats all the time. My mother has always had a large vegetable garden. She takes great joy in cultivating her vegetables and preparing meals with them. She always encouraged me to have my own garden, too.

Tip #3: Grow Your Own Food & Take Advantage of Locally Grown Healthy Options

Cortney: Another obstacle to eating right is when we don’t listen to the needs of our bodies. How is that connection lost, and–more importantly–how can it be regained?

Vani: Many of us are living a fast-paced lifestyle, eating meals on the run without taking the time to consciously consider how the food we are eating could impact our bodies. This leads to weight gain and sickness, which I know from first-hand experience. Several years ago while I was working as a management consultant, I let my work life take over and that’s when I had my wake up moment. I was sick, overweight and looked horrible. It was then that I made a conscious decision to avoid processed food. If there was something I really wanted to eat that I knew was filled with additives, artificial ingredients, or other questionable substances, I would make it at home with my own organic ingredients so I could indulge. And then something dramatic happened. All the issues I had as a child—asthma, eczema, allergies went away. I was on six – eight different prescription drugs depending on the season and I’m on zero today. My weight normalized, and I actually lost another 5 pounds on top of that! I began to have more energy than I had when I was years younger! All you have to do is clean up your diet and be more conscious of not putting unnecessary chemicals in your mouth. The way you treat yourself, the way you treat your body, what you put in it, can make a HUGE life changing difference.

Tip #4: Listen to & Love Your Body

Cortney: In his book, Integrative Nutrition, Joshua Rosenthal talks about the difference between primary and secondary nutrition. Primary foods include thriving relationships and purpose-driven careers, while secondary foods are what we put in our mouth. I’ve met many fit, vibrant people who do not eat well. Can we chalk these examples up to great primary nutrition?

Vani: It all comes down to your beliefs and the practices those beliefs generate. For example, when I stopped thinking of food as “good” or “bad” and started asking questions like, “Is this going to serve my cells, my body, my health?” that shift in focus let me dismiss any disordered thinking so that my body and mind were able to receive the primary and secondary nutrition they needed to function at optimal levels. It’s about learning to accept and love yourself. Louise Hay’s work helped me a lot in creating and aligning new, positive thought patterns and self-talk with my purpose. And those perspective shifts allowed me to look and feel great without the struggle.

Tip #5: Change Your Beliefs, Change Your Body

Cortney: Speaking of primary nutrition, the Blue Zones–areas in the world where people live into the 100s–are historically known for higher levels of health and vibrancy. Could we apply what these micro populations are doing to create a health plan for the rest of the world?

Vani: Studies on the Blue Zones have shown that overall these people have strong relationships with their friends and families, and simply enjoy their life. I try to take time out every day to spend time with my loved ones, and also to exercise (outside if possible), meditate, and get out to meet new people. Personal relationship building is imperative to good health – no doubt about it! This is an area of health that many of us do not give much weight, but we should pay more attention to it. Of course, I think the local diets of the Blue Zones contribute to longevity as well. When food hasn’t been processed or packaged for a long shelf life, and hasn’t traveled miles to get to you, it is better for your health. That’s why I encourage people to get out and meet local farmers, go to farmer’s markets, and take advantage of the food that is grown locally in your area.

Tip #6: Take Time Every Day to Connect with Loved Ones, Exercise, & Meditate

To learn more about Vani Hari and her work check out her website or  purchase her book through Amazon: The Food Babe Way. To find alternative grocery stores, try The Local Harvest.

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Consumer Reports Finds Hamburger from Grass-Fed and Organic Cattle Poses Fewer Health Risks

Consumer Reports tested 300 samples (458 pounds) of hamburger from 103 stores from 26 cities for bacterial contamination, comparing “sustainable” meat to conventional meat. (Sustainable, in this study, referred to beef from cattle that was not given antibiotics). What they found was both enlightening and truly disturbing.

Beef samples were tested for 5 types of bacteria:

  • Salmonella
  • Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
  • Coli (7 strains)
  • Clostridium perfringens (CDC estimates 1 million cases of food poisoning due to this bacteria each year.)
  • Enterococcus

Consumer Reports published the following results:

All 458 pounds of beef we examined contained bacteria that signified fecal contamination (enterococcus and/or nontoxin-producing E. coli), which can cause blood or urinary tract infections. Almost 20 percent contained C. perfringens, a bacteria that causes almost 1 million cases of food poisoning annually. Ten percent of the samples had a strain of S. aureus bacteria that can produce a toxin that can make you sick. That toxin can’t be destroyed—even with proper cooking.

Just 1 percent of our samples contained salmonella. … salmonella causes an estimated 1.2 million illnesses and 450 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Consumer Reports then tested the bacteria they found and discovered that 18 percent of conventional beef samples were contaminated with superbugs—dangerous bacteria that are resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics. While testing out to contain half that amount, 9%, sustainably produced beef also contained superbugs.

A full 97% of the beef sold is obtained from conventionally raised cattle that are crowded into feedlots and left to stand in their own manure. They are fed corn and soy (both of which are usually GMO), candy, slaughtered parts of pigs and chickens and dried chicken manure and litter rather than the grasses and other plants they were meant to eat. They are also fed plastic pellets for roughage and routine antibiotics.

Although sustainable beef is clearly better and cleaner, all of the samples, even organic beef samples, were contaminated. Consumer Reports strongly recommends cooking hamburger to an internal temperature of 160 degrees – medium, rather than rare or medium rare. Rare hamburger, it seems, is much more likely to cause disease than other cuts of beef due to the fact that it is ground up and the bacteria is inside as well as outside. With other cuts of beef, the bacteria would only be found on the surface, where it is more likely to be killed by the heat source. If you’ve been eating conventionally grown meat, consider a GMO detox.

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Glyphosate Drenched Crops

When you shop for produce and see that higher price placed on the organic varieties, chances are you think there probably isn’t that much difference between the two. Surely conventional agriculture doesn’t waste chemicals. They only use them when they need to – when insects or fungus attacks the crops, right? Wrong.

Conventional produce has been through a storm of chemical treatments. The use of chemicals is so insidious, it often begins with treating the dirt and the seeds before planting. Then chemical fertilizers are used in addition to insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides during cultivation. Some fruits have been tested to find 13-15 different pesticides remain after harvesting. Now a new practice is being employed – pre-harvest desiccation. Crops are drenched with an herbicide prior to harvest to hasten and even out ripening and to control weeds for the next crop.

Unfortunately this process results in huge pesticide residues in our food, even in certified non-GMO food. That’s right, your food could be non-GMO Project verified and still have been drenched in glyphosate just prior to harvest. The foods that are approved for Roundup application and/or another pesticide just prior to harvest are as follows:

  • Wheat
  • Cotton (cottonseed oil)
  • Alfalfa
  • Oats
  • Sugar cane
  • Beans
  • Mustard
  • Oilseed rape
  • Rye/Triticale
  • Lentils
  • Peas
  • Flax
  • Sunflower
  • Pulses
  • Soy Bean
  • Sugar beet
  • Potatoes
  • Chick Peas
  • Feed barley
  • Canola
  • Corn

Unfortunately, Roundup is not the only chemical approved for use just prior to harvest. Other approved pre-harvest chemical desiccants include:

  • Reglone
  • Diquat
  • Glufosinate
  • Carfentrazone-Ethyl
  • Cyanamide
  • Paraquat
  • Diquat Dibromide
  • Carfentrazone
  • Cyclanilide
  • Diquat
  • Endothall
  • Thidiazuron
  • Tribufos

No one denies that these chemicals are toxic. The argument in favor of desiccation and other synthetic chemical treatments is that the dose of toxin is so low, it isn’t harmful to apply it.

Toxicology is based on the following 500-year-old idea that is fundamentally flawed.

All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy. –Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim Paracelsus

While it is true that even water can kill you if you drink an excessive amount, the idea that small doses of poison can’t hurt you is illogical. In conventional agriculture, everything you eat includes poison. Why would you want to eat any poison with every meal, increasing your toxic load each day?

Recently, we are learning more and more about how toxic glyphosate truly is.

Unfortunately, the other chemical treatments are not any better. A drop of Reglone on your fingernail can cause your nail to shrivel up, fall off, and never grow back. Any exposure to the eyes can blind you, permanently. It doesn’t take very much Reglone to kill you, and in higher amounts it can even be fatal from contact on the skin.

The more we realize how pervasive the chemical treatments are in conventional agriculture, the more we realize the value of voting with our dollars for organic food.

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Five Super Protein-Rich Vegan Foods for Healthy Living

Healthy living is usually based upon the concept of meeting nutritional needs and eating plenty of high protein foods, which balances the equation of other required nutrients.

However, if you’re a vegetarian, it can be quite tough to meet your protein requirements without any meat-based products. Since that’s the case, here are five meat-free options that can help you reach your nutritional goals.

Nutritional Yeast

If you’ve never heard of nutritional yeast, you’ve been missing out. This is one of the best kept vegetarian secrets when it comes to complete plant-based protein sources.

Nutritional yeast is actually harvested from molasses and has a similar texture and consistency to parmesan cheese. At 14 grams per ounce, nutritional yeast is an easy way to add thickness and “cheesy” flavor to pasta sauces or even popcorn.

Brewer’s yeast. This type of yeast is grown from hops (a by-product of brewing beer), and has been around since beer making began. It can be consumed by humans, used to fortify other products, or even given to pets.

Pure nutritional yeast. This is usually grown from sugar cane, beet molasses, or wood pulp. And it’s grown specifically for the purpose of human food consumption.

Nutritional yeast, which is not to be confused with Active Dry Yeast or Brewer’s Yeast, is a deactivated form of the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yeast is pasteurized and placed in a dryer to deactivate the yeast and bring out its nutritional properties. The yeast, which is gluten free, has a flavor reminiscent of cheese and is rich in amino acids, B-complex vitamins, niacin, folic acid, zinc, selenium and thiamine. Bob’s Red Mill’s nutritional yeast has been fortified with vitamin B-12, as well. Nutritional yeast is popular with vegetarians and vegans whose diets can be deplete of B-complex vitamins, especially B-12.” – Bob’s Red Mill

Quinoa

A species of the goosefoot grain, quinoa is typically known for its edible seeds and complete amino acid profile. It tips the scales at 24 grams per uncooked cup and also boasts high levels of manganese, copper, and magnesium.

Quinoa can be whipped up in around 15 minutes and contains double the amount of fiber compared to most grains. If you enjoy heartier grains with a nutty texture,  quinoa is the perfect choice for you.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat is another rice alternative that actually comes from a fruit seed derivative. If a person does not tolerate gluten well, buckwheat is an excellent alternative.

There is actually research showing that those who consume (on average) 4 ounces of buckwheat a day actually improved their LDL to HDL ratio and reduce their serum cholesterol levels.

Beans

Beans are a vegetarian’s dream food – high in protein and antioxidants, low in cost, and plentiful in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. What’s not to love?

Not only that, research has shown that a moderate bean intake can be linked to lower incidences of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain forms of cancer.

Lentils and beans can offer anywhere from 8-22 grams of protein per cup depending on the type of bean consumed.

Just remember to soak beans and lentils prior to cooking to release health damaging enzyme inhibitors.

Plant Based Protein Powders

The plant-based protein market has exploded lately. There are isolate variations ranging from soy, hemp, wheat, rice, and even pea to fulfill any amino acid deficiencies you might have through your nutrition. A few companies offer complete proteins with all of the essential amino acids. Do your research and choose carefully to make sure that your supplementation choice is rightly based upon your current nutritional intake. Protein isolates are more easily digested, and are often used by those who have a hard time assimilating protein, but isolates tend to be acidic and can damage the body for various reasons (especially whey isolates) if taken for long periods of time.

Mastering a Healthy Nutrition

Don’t fall into the trap of believing there’s a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to reaching your goals. When it comes to your health and fitness goals, protein is certainly essential, but you don’t always have to choose a meat-based option. With a little knowledge and personal research, you can easily reach your daily minimums and still eat foods that you enjoy.

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Fresh, healthy, Local and Sustainable Fruit Year-Round

We all know that fruit is good for us. The steady stream of research and articles on the subject reminds us constantly of the amazing antioxidant benefits of blueberries and how an apple a day keeps the doctor away. When we go to the supermarket, we know we are supposed to do the healthy thing and load up on fresh fruits, right? But are those fruits really fresh and really good for us? How far did those strawberries have to travel and what did they spray on them to keep them looking “fresh” in the middle of winter? Were they grown in a way that positively or negatively impacted the waterways and wildlife in that area, not to mention the farmers who grew them?

You can always make the choice to “vote with your wallet” as I like to say, and buy certified organic from the store, but this can be expensive for many of us, and the reality is still that if it’s not in season where we live, it had to travel a long ways to get to our produce section.

The good news is, there are many ways you can add more fruit to your diet, and still keep it healthy, local and good for the environment. There are plenty of small farms out there growing tree fruits and berries, and this is the perfect opportunity to get to know them. Buying, picking and growing fruit in quantity when it is in season is very economical, and although fresh fruit may not be available all throughout the year, there are some simple ways to store and preserve it at home so that you always know exactly where it came from.

Visit Your Local Farmer’s Market

If your town or urban neighborhood has a farmer’s market, this is the place to find your local fruit. Farmer’s Markets give you an opportunity to have a conversation with farmers directly about how they grow their crops, whether they are organic, and which varieties they recommend. Farmers tend to highlight freshness with the produce they bring to market, so you will know it was picked the day before or even early that morning. Some farmer’s markets also continue through the holiday season, allowing you to continue buying local fruit that farmers have stored in their own cold storage.

The other added benefit of a trip to your local farmer’s market is the community building aspect of getting to know your farmer and your fellow like-minded locavores. Throw in some live music and healthy food carts, and you can’t go wrong for a fun weekend activity. When a fruit is in season, expect to find whole flats available at discount prices that you can preserve for the year ahead. Some farmers also offer “seconds” or not-so-perfect boxes of fruit at a deep discount, that is perfectly good for canning or freezing.

U-Pick

I can’t recommend this option highly enough, especially if you have kids. While the low prices and feeling of self-sufficiency are reason enough to get your fruit in this manner, what it comes down to is that it is really just plain fun.

What’s not to love about making an outing to visit a farm, spending some time outside picking fruit, snacking as you go and maybe having a picnic lunch while you’re out there? You will get to know firsthand exactly where your fruit came from as you create good memories and start traditions to pass down in your family.

Farmers charge less per pound for fruit they don’t have to spend time picking, plus they will usually offer a discounted price based on your quantity, so stocking up for the year at a U-Pick farm really does pay off.

Grow Your Own!

You don’t need a lot of land to grow a lot of food. Depending on the size of your yard, you can plant fruit trees, berry bushes, and strawberry beds to create a productive, edible landscape. Raspberry patches can produce an incredible amount of fruit, strawberry beds planted with ever-bearing varieties can be harvested multiple times throughout the growing season, and a single dwarf fruit tree that is properly pruned can produce a massive amount of fruit. From the five blueberry bushes growing in our yard, we were able to freeze 30 quarts and have fresh berries to eat all summer.

Even if you live in a small space, raspberries and blueberries can grow in pots, dwarf fruit trees have been developed for patio growing, and strawberries can be planted in vertical containers with holes on the sides or in old gutters along your fence or balcony. You may not have room to grow enough quantity for preserving, but you can grow your fresh day-to-day eating fruit for the summer and stock up at the farmer’s market for long-term storage. Aside from the cost of plants, soil amendments and your water bill, this is a very low-cost option for securing your yearly fruit supply.

Go Gleaning

If you take a walk around your neighborhood in the fall, you may notice fruit trees on abandoned lots and in public spaces dropping fruit all over the ground. Urban foraging, or gleaning, is a great way to get your local, organic fruit and keep it from going to waste. Fallen fruit in parks and public areas creates a lot of mess and clean-up labor when it falls on sidewalks and lawns, so you are doing landscape workers a big favor.

You may also have a neighbor who is too busy or physically unable to harvest the fruit in their yard. It never hurts to ask if you can harvest from their trees, and offer them a portion of the fruit in exchange. It’s a good way to get to know the people in your neighborhood and build community. Some places even have gleaning groups that go around and help each other harvest fruit to share amongst themselves and donate some to local food banks. It is truly the “waste not, want not” principle in action, and it’s absolutely free.

Go Wild!

Few things can rival the flavor of wild berries, freshly picked from the vine. Blackberries, huckleberries, black cap raspberries, and a whole abundance of delicious fruits grow all around us in forests, fields, and the wild spaces. In some places, blackberries are so invasive that you don’t have to go far to find a patch to pick from. This, like U-picking, is a great activity for those with kids. Many families still carry on traditions of going on outings up into the high mountains to pick huckleberries in the late summer, to freeze and use in family recipes from jams to pies.

One of the best resources for where to find the best picking spots are your own grandparents or the elderly people you know. They have likely spent many a day out picking wild berries in their youth, and would enjoy sharing their experience and pointing you in the right direction. The other great thing about this method of gathering fruit is that it doesn’t cost a thing.

Preserve the Bounty

Here is the important key to keeping your fruit supply local. Many of us live in places where fruit doesn’t grow all year. Rather than going to the grocery store for a pint of strawberries from Mexico in January, why not thaw a pint of local strawberries from your freezer? Instead of buying a bag of dried fruit with added sweetener and preservatives, you can snack on a handful of delicious dried plums from your backyard.

If you spend the time stocking up over the summer, all the fruit you need is right there until it comes back into season the following year. Freezing, canning, dehydrating, and cold storing are all fairly simple methods of keeping your fruit supply local through the winter months. Things like apples, pears, and kiwis will often keep for several months in root cellars, garages, or any place that stays cool without freezing. Berries can be frozen in baggies or containers. Peaches, plums, and pears can be canned in a simple honey syrup, and jams can be made out of just about any kind of fruit you like.

For folks that are just plain busy, your freezer is your friend. Once you have gone about gathering and storing your fruit for the year, you will gain the satisfaction of doing things for yourself, some peace of mind, and closer connections with your food and your farmer. The Ball Blue Book of Preserving, and The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol Costenbader are a couple of excellent resources with instructions and recipes for canning and other preservation methods. Also, most state universities offer Master Food Preserver programs through their extension offices, similar to the Master Gardener program.

A Mountain Hearth Recipe for Strawberry Jam and Life

Ingredients

A local Farm
Friends and People You Love
4 cups fresh picked strawberries
3/4 to 2 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup water
3 tsp Pomona’s Pectin
4+ tsp Pomona’s calcium water (comes with pectin)

Take a trip out to your favorite local farm with your friends and the people that you love. Make a day of it, pack a picnic lunch, and enjoy the experience. Pick as large a quantity of strawberries as you can manage processing, and “vote with your wallet” to support your local farmer. Then it’s time to get your supplies, get home, and get to work, because fresh strawberries don’t keep long.

Mash the strawberries and stir in lemon juice and sugar. I always go with the middle ground and use about a cup. The cool thing about Pomona’s Pectin is that you can use whatever type or amount of sweetener you want. I like having options. Then boil your water and pulse in a food processor while adding pectin powder. Blend for about 2 minutes. Stir this into your fruit mash. Then add the calcium water until the jam starts to jell. Ladle into clean jars leaving about an inch head space and freeze. I keep mine up to two years in the freezer and it’s a wonderful year-round treat!

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