Eating Seasonally: Winter Edition

We hear about “eating seasonally” all the time but what does that really mean? So many of us have had the luxury of relying on grocery stores for our food that we have no idea about what crops are native to specific times of the year (greenhouse and large-scale industrial grow houses aside)… at least I didn’t before I started gardening and homesteading.

Why eat seasonally? Fresh, seasonal food is loaded with more nutrients per bite (and tastes better too). Plus our bodies require more or less of different nutrients by season which those seasonally available produce items helps to fulfill. Out of season strawberries, for example, have to be harvested before their prime—or before they even ripen, for that matter!—to be shipped and distributed elsewhere. They lack the flavor and nutritional content of in-season, local strawberries.

Do I buy avocados at the grocery store? Yes I do. Do my children like to include bananas in their homemade lunches? Yep. Neither of which are local nor in-season to me. But the majority of the fruit and veg in my diet comes from homegrown, freshly harvested, frozen, canned or stored homegrown produce. It’s about setting realistic goals rather than giving into the criticism of nay-sayers and not trying at all.

So with that, here’s an abbreviated list of common items in season NOW.

👉🏼If you’re interested in looking up your area specifically, there’s a great resource called SeasonalFoodGuide.org. Simply plug in your state and it’ll tell you what’s available for any given month of the year.

❄️WINTER❄️
Apples
Beets
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Celery
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Grapefruit
Kale
Leafy Greens
Lemons
Limes
Oranges
Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Radishes
Winter squash (butternut, spaghetti, etc)