There exist those who have and will continue to dedicate themselves to the simple act of planting a seed. Without this motion, we can expect no greens of spring, no watermelons of summer and no pumpkins of fall. Nearly every vegetable and grain that we eat today was thoughtfully planted months ago with the expectation that it would grow. Generally, that expectation is about all a seed needs to grow—that and a little soil, sun and water.

It is precisely those hopes and expectations that result in all of us getting fed in one manner or another. The seed really does know what to do, and will happily do it as long as its needs are met. When considering a garden, it is important to know that each variety of fruit and vegetable seed that we plant today has been lovingly bred and selected for thousands of years by fellow gardeners. At some point in time, a person decided that the orange carrots we know and love today are better than the white gnarled roots of wild carrots. We have taken the wild carrot with us through time and across continents. Still, a carrot wants to be a carrot, and a cabbage a cabbage, and so on and so on.

These wild ancestors have passed their knowledge of climate, sun and soils along through the generations. No matter how many spider web genes or chemical resistances we inject into this line of information, a carrot must be a carrot. Answers to both success and failure are right in front of us. Choose seeds that are adapted to our Midwestern climate and soils. Look for garden niches that may resemble the wild ancestor’s habitat—a dry, hot area of the garden for your rosemary and oregano, for example. This will be closer to the Mediterranean climate where they originated.

Consider that tomatoes are from the steamy jungles of South America long ago, and potatoes are from the cooler mountainsides of the same place. Try sourcing your garden seed from as close to home as possible, or better yet, start saving your own. Our ancestors did it 10,000 years ago, and it still works today. The seeds really do know where they came from and it makes a huge difference to try to make your gardens more like the wild homes of their past.

Jeffry Evard is chief agronomist for B.E.A.N. LLC’s Feel Good Farm, LLC in Sheridan, Ind. He is responsible for the design and implementation of the yearly farm operation plan for 170-acres of certified organic vegetable and fruit production farms. Evard handles farm harvest and yield forecasting for integrating produce into Green B.E.A.N. Delivery’s member distribution network, and serves in an advisory role in long-term crop production needs. He is also the agronomist for Natures Crossroads Seed Company in Bloomington, Ind., adapting and breeding vegetable for Midwestern organic gardeners.

Elizabeth Blessing is co-owner of Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, a company that delivers organic produce and natural groceries to Midwest consumers’ doors. She contributes recipes and healthy living tips to the company’s weekly Healthy Times Newsletter and online in the Recipe Box. Elizabeth is an accomplished whole foods nutritionist, speaker and curriculum writer. She has aMaster of Sciencein Nutrition from Bastyr University in Seattle, and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Health-Dietetics from Indiana University.

Spring is the first season of the year, and it represents youth with the tender young plants and the signs of new life all around. It is a time of new beginnings, reflection and ascending out of winter’s slumber. We rise early with the sun, start to become more active and naturally cleanse. Plants start pushing their way upwards and the sight of green nourishes the soul.

In the spring, we naturally eat less, and sometimes even fast in order to cleanse the body of the fats and heavy foods of winter. Our diet should be the lightest of the year and contain foods that energetically are ascending and expansive. These include young plants, like baby carrots, beets, turnips, fresh greens and sprouts.

Sweet and pungent flavors have expansive and ascending qualities, and are the dominating flavors in the spring months. Pungent cooking herbs include mint, basil, fennel, marjoram, rosemary, caraway, dill and bay leaf. Complex carbohydrates, such as grains, legumes and seeds have a slightly sweet flavor that is increased during sprouting. Sweet fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries and peas, are some of the first produce to come into season. Intensely pungent foods, like spring garlic and onions, are used in detoxification and cleansing of the body during the spring.

Spring cooking tends to be simple, shorter and at higher temperatures, such as sautéing, steaming or quick simmering. The food is not as thoroughly cooked, especially the inner part, giving a semi-crisp texture and fresh flavor.

Meals should lighten up and incorporate more sprouted foods and raw fruits and vegetables.
Sprouting grains and seeds are a common spring food prep technique. Foods that have been sprouted are cleansing, cooling and encourage movement and activity. Sprouts are nutrient-packed and full of flavor. Most sprouts have a slightly sweet flavor due to the higher levels of the disaccharide, maltose. This simple sugar will eventually elongate and become starch as the plant grows and develops.

Raw foods are also thought to be cleansing and cooling. As the temperature increases so does raw food consumption. Our greatest consumption of raw food should be during the spring and summer months.

Numerous farms, such as This Old Farm, Local Living Produce, Grateful Greens and Van Scoy Greenhouse will be supplying Green B.E.A.N. Delivery with lettuces, spring onions, salad mix and even greenhouse English cucumbers, beefsteak tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. As spring approaches summer, look for even more local produce from our amazing network of local farmers.

People are drawn to vegetarianism or veganism by all sorts of motives. Some of us want to live longer, healthier lives or lose weight, while others make the switch for ethical reasons.

While the grand gesture of becoming a full-fledged vegetarian or vegan may be too extreme for some, simply cutting back on meat and dairy has room for big change—especially when it comes to the negative impact that raising and processing animals for consumption has on the environment.

Studies have shown that producing billions of pounds a year from billions of animals requires large quantities of pesticides, chemical fertilizer, fuel, feed and water. It also generates greenhouse gases and large amounts of toxic manure and wastewater that pollute groundwater, rivers, streams and oceans. Could consuming less meat and dairy in our daily diets really reduce these numbers?

According to the Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health recently released by The Environmental Working Group, the answer is yes, and in a big way. Through lifecycle assessments of 20 popular types of meat (including fish), dairy and vegetable proteins, the report gives consumers a deeper understanding of the repercussions of their food choices, and plenty of reason to think about the meat they eat.

Chew on these reasons to go veg—even just sometimes:

• Lamb, beef, cheese, pork and farmed salmon generate the most greenhouse gases.
• Lentils, beans and nuts are responsible for a fraction of the greenhouse gases.
• Eight American slaughterhouses consistently rank among the 20 worst industrial polluters in the nation, responsible for the discharge of 30 million pounds of contaminants each year.
• The primary source of pollution comes from nitrates. Nitrates contamination in water leads to massive fish kills and oxygen-deprived “dead zones” where marine life cannot survive.

In light of these findings, there’s no denying that going cheese and meat free has numerous positive effects on the environment and on a person’s health—even in small doses.

How to make it work for you?

Start by avoiding the two food groups altogether for one day a week and choosing organic, local products the other days. When you do consume meat, eggs or dairy, do it greener by shopping for grass-fed beef, no antibiotics or hormones, certified organic, certified humane, local, unprocessed (nitrite/nitrate free) and wild-caught seafood.

Even more food for thought:

• If you eat one less burger per week for one year, it’s like taking your car off the road for 320 miles.
• If your four-person family skips meat and cheese one day a week for a year, it’s like taking your car off the road for five weeks.
• If your four-person family skips steak one day per week for a year, it’s like taking your car off the road for almost three months.
• If everyone in the U.S. eats no meat or cheese just one day a week for a year, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles.

As the numbers show, making greener choices when it comes to buying meat and dairy truly does extend further than animal rights or any diet craze. Implementing small dietary changes now can lend to huge environmental impact down the line—no full-on vegetarian or vegan title required.

The winter solstice on Wed., Dec. 21 marks the first day of winter. The cold and darkness drive us to seek inner warmth, and our focus is on warming our core while the surface of our body stays cool. Core warming foods keep the inner flame hot while allowing the exterior of the body to remain cool, which causes us to notice the cold less.

Core warming foods, along with salty and bitter flavors, dominate the food choices throughout winter. Salty and bitter flavors promote a sinking, centering quality that aids in the capacity for storage.

Most bitter foods are not wholly bitter, but combinations of bitter and other flavors. These foods include lettuces, turnips, celery, carrot tops, leafy greens, rye, oats and quinoa. Often, the bitter flavors are found in the protective coating, such as the peel from citrus and the outermost leaves of cabbage. Salty foods include tamari or soy sauce, seaweed and barley, plus any food that is prepared with the addition of salt. Small, regular amounts of salty and bitter foods help to create the sinking, centering quality needed during winter. Warming foods help improve the digestive fire and keep our core warm. These foods include cloves, fennel seeds, anise seeds, black peppercorns, ginger (dried or fresh), cinnamon bark, walnuts, black beans, onion family (garlic, onions, scallions and leeks), quinoa, chicken, lamb, trout and salmon.

 Although the winter months are a time of centering and resting, it is still important to stay active enough to keep the spine and joints flexible. Exercise along with a little fine tuning in the diet allows the body to get ready for the cold months ahead, and keeps the body and mind in balance while waiting for the subtle warmth of the spring months.

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 Elizabeth Blessing (@organic_beth) is co-owner of Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, a company that delivers organic produce and natural groceries to Midwest consumers’ doors. She contributes recipes and healthy living tips to the company’s blog, the Healthy Times. Elizabeth is an accomplished whole foods nutritionist, speaker and curriculum writer. She has a Master of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University in Seattle, and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Health-Dietetics from Indiana University.

Before we know it, we’ll be sitting down with family and friends for a delicious Thanksgiving feast. But, why prepare a meal with foods that have traveled thousands of miles (in the U.S., food travels an average of 1,500 miles before ever reaching your dinner table) when that same delicious food is available right down the road? The good news is—you don’t have to! There are many options that exist for Indianapolis and surrounding area residents to put local foods on the Thanksgiving dinner table this year. Some of my favorite ideas are: 

• Turkeys from Gunthorp Farms (LaGrange)—people can also get them smoked by the Smoking Goose (Indianapolis)
• Artisan bread and rolls from Scholars Inn Bakehouse (Bloomington)
• Salad dressings and soups from Farm to Kitchen Foods (Indianapolis)
• Carnival, delicata, acorn and butternut squash from The Feel Good Farm (Sheridan)
• Blue Lake green beans from Eli Creek Farms (Connersville)
• Maple syrup from Leane and Michael’s Sugarbush (Salem)
• Eggs from Seven Springs Farm (Carthage) or Copper Creek Farms (Kokomo)
• Flour from Prairie Mills (Indiana) or gluten-free flour from BeeFree Bakery (Noblesville)
• Organic herbs and spices from Frontier Natural Products Co-op (Midwest-produced)
• And, of course, an assortment of produce from sweet potatoes to hearty greens to Brussels sprouts

There are several places in Indianapolis and the surrounding area where consumers can purchase local products for their Thanksgiving meal, including:

• Online at Green B.E.A.N. Delivery (Indianapolis and the greater surrounding area)
• Goose The Market (downtown Indianapolis)
• Indy Winter Farmers Market (downtown Indianapolis)
• Good Earth (Indianapolis)
• Pogue’s Run Grocer (Indianapolis)
• Root Beginnings (Greenfield)
• Whole Foods Market (Indianapolis and Carmel)

While we spend the holidays giving thanks for friends, family and health, it’s important to also appreciate the local foods that are available to us as the local food movement cultivates:

• Local economy – Supporting local farmers and food artisans creates a healthy, sustainable community that allows business and job growth.
• Environment – Enjoying local food significantly lowers the amount of greenhouse gases in our environment. Buying from organic farmers reduces the agricultural chemicals released into our environment.
• Nutrition – Eating produce that is sustainably raised and allowed to mature on the plant provides a higher dose of nutrients and phytochemicals. It also tends to keep you away from heavily processed foods, encouraging a more natural, whole foods diet. Eating organically protects your family from harmful chemicals.
• Farmland preservation – Supporting local farmers protects our natural resources which are important for future generations.
• Food security and diversity – With more farms comes greater food security and less market fluctuation regarding food products.
• Business development – Think about the food source from the retailer, restaurant, processor, farmer, etc. If properly executed, local food can support several local businesses on its way to your stomach.

Local food tastes great and is great for you, but that is not the only reason to take the plunge this Turkey Day! Your community has always supported you. It is time to sustain your community.

If you’re looking for healthy, delicious recipes to prepare for Thanksgiving, check out some suggestions at Green B.E.A.N. Delivery’s new blog, the Healthy Times.