Making the Most of Your Summer Garden

It is July and my garden is in full bloom! Cucumbers are bursting onto the vines, tomatoes are green and getting ready to ripen.  Basil, chives, cilantro, dill, oregano, thyme, and rosemary overflow the beds. My biggest crop is butternut squash.  I think butternut squash and its seeds are my favorite food ever. As a professional chef, I was trained how to cook a variety of fresh foods in creative ways. However, you do not need to be a professional chef to make the most of your summer garden or local farmer’s market. Simple preparation often yields the best results.

Gardens are very affordable to start, and gardening is a rewarding activity that can involve the entire family. I started my garden for very little money – purchasing organic seeds and planting those seeds in paper pots on my screen porch. I planted them all in May and now my garden is overflowing in bounty.

I love having food at my fingertips. Nourishing, fresh, organic, delicious food. No package. No additives. Just pure unadulterated food.

So, you didn’t start a garden. Ok—there are farmer’s markets galore and fresh organic produce all around. Farmer’s markets are the way to go, if possible, because you will know exactly what is in season—because that is all they have! No fruit from across the globe ripened unnaturally with chemical assistance, just fresh ready to eat goodness. In many cases, farmers will have creative suggestions to prepare the food they are selling. Learning where your food comes from is very important and at the farmer’s market, you are purchasing goods directly from the source.

Eating what is freshly grown is not just about organic—it’s really about HOW we were meant to eat.  The way food ripens—the time of it with the season and with the pollinators has a rhythm of the earth.  The sugars and starches and fibers and minerals and vitamins in each morsel is timed just right by mother earth to support your microbiome-your second brain. One of the ways we whack our rhythms is by eating fruit and vegetables that are not in season. Yes—Mother Nature has a plan and we are best off following it.  Want to learn more? Schedule a nutrition Counseling session with Dr. Giulia Isetti and learn how to create the rhythm and routines that best suit your individual needs.