How to Eat The Seasons: A Complete Guide

SEASONAL EATING GUIDE CONTENTS

Do you know how to eat the seasons? Most of us know that strawberries grow in summer and winter squash is available – well in fall and winter. That doesn’t stop these foods from hitting the grocery store shelves 365 days per year. The way that our system is set up has completely turned seasonal eating upside down and we are now used to eating what we want whenever we want it. Unfortunately, this is no good for farms, the earth, our budgets, or our waistlines.

Why not eat what is available right where you are? With a few changes you can learn how to eat the seasons year-round. Keep reading for a complete how-to guide and I will walk you through all the steps; from discovering where to find seasonal food to cooking from scratch (psst – it’s not as hard as you think!).

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Seasonal Eating Basics

What does it mean to “eat the seasons”?

Unless you live close to the equator, you are probably used to the ebb and flow of the seasons. The crisp chill in winter followed by the renewal of life in the spring, that then flourishes through summer, only to decay again in fall. It is this natural rhythm that keeps things interesting and fresh and is how most animals mark their calendars for eating and sleeping. Until the past 70 years or so, humans followed this pattern too.

But somewhere along the way, mankind stepped off the path. As food preservation techniques and global food production got better and better, our eating habits changed as well. It is now common to eat raspberries and tomatoes in the dead of winter and butternut squash and Brussels sprouts in May. In Wisconsin, I can find avocados, lemons, limes, bananas, and many other warm climate fruits and vegetables right in the store, five minutes from my home, all year round. When I realized what was happening, I decided to buck the trend and find a way to eat the seasons.

But what does it mean to “eat the seasons”? Eating with the seasons means that you find foods that are produced locally in your area and eat them when they are available. Fresh food is eaten at its peak throughout the growing season, then the bounty is preserved for the colder months and the focus switches to grains and meats. Now, I look forward to every season and what it has to offer to feed my family.

A bowl full of foraged black raspberries in July - eat the seasons

Why Eat the Seasons?

If you have landed on this page, it is likely you are already curious about seasonal eating and ready to make some changes. Maybe you want to be healthier, help the environment, or support your local farmer. These are all great things! Here are some good reasons why it makes sense to eat the seasons.

Taste! – You get the freshest, most delicious food when you eat the seasons.
Health – not only does seasonal food taste better, but it also happens to be more nutritious. The more time that passes from picking, the more vitamins and nutrients that are lost from the food.
Environment – The average food travels 1,500 miles to make it to your plate. How inefficient! Eating with the seasons means you will save both water and energy resources. An added environmental benefit is that you can often get food completely unpackaged and not have to fret about all that plastic you are throwing in the garbage.
Cost – Eating things when they are abundantly available is much more cost effective. It is the rule of supply and demand.
Support your local economy – A huge advantage to seasonal eating is that you can be a part of your community. You can forge relationships with farmers and feel good about supporting their family.
Self-sufficiency – learning to grow some of your own food and cook from scratch will put you on a great path to self-sufficiency. You can even forage for some of your food in nature.

Want to learn more about why it is so important to eat the seasons? Read more in detail here:

6 Reasons Why You Should Eat the Seasons

Frequently Asked Questions:

You may have a few questions running through your head right now and I will do my best to answer:

Does eating with the seasons mean I have to grow all my own food? Absolutely not. Although a garden is great, it is not necessary to eat seasonally. In fact, I have so many tips and tricks for you to make sure that you are eating local and seasonal all year round and enjoying every moment of it no matter where you live. Eating seasonally in the modern food era is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago.

Does everything I eat have to be produced locally? There is no right or wrong when it comes to eating the seasons. You can go as far with this as you want. Most seasonal eaters source their produce, meat, and dairy locally and then supplement with spices, cooking oils, and other specialty items from the grocery store to round out their pantry. Most food I eat is produced right nearby, but I consider local to be a 150 mile radius from my home.

Can I eat out at restaurants? While I personally do not eat out very often, I know that this is not the norm for many people. There are some restaurants that get food from local farms and change the menu with the seasons. If this is not an option for you, then you can consider making a plan to cut back on the number of times you eat out per week, especially fast food. Wherever you are in your eating journey, jump in and set a goal. Small changes sometimes have the biggest impact!

How do I get started? Easy – read on!!! There is still so much more to know about how to eat the seasons.

Four Steps to Seasonal Eating

The whole process of seasonal eating takes a bit of research and a lot of experimentation. You need to know where to find foods that are in season, have a plan for getting and using the food, know how to cook it, and know how to properly store it. Now, some of these things might not come naturally if you didn’t grow up eating this way. The most important thing is to make sure to take it slow at first, rather than try to do everything at once. Otherwise, you will find it very time consuming and give up before the real change happens. It is important to form small habits first. Follow these four steps and you are guaranteed to start on a path to eat the seasons. Give it a year and you will be hooked!

Step 1: Food Sourcing

The farm-to-table movement is growing right now as more people realize the need to eat closer to home. But how do you get that farm fresh food? Well, there are several options. If you are just getting started with the “eat the seasons” concept, then I recommend picking just one option to focus on at first and learn as much as you can in that area. What you choose to start with will depend on where you live and what options are available to you. Once you get the hang of it, you will probably be using a combination of all these ideas to get your food.

Farmer’s Markets: In most urban areas, there is bound to be a farmer’s market nearby. Even small towns host markets in the summertime. At the farmer’s market you will find a cornucopia of vegetables and fruit along with other venders selling meat, eggs, honey, baked goods, flour (and flowers!), and other local specialty items like maple syrup. Since these items are coming directly from the farmers you will only have the choice to purchase what is in season and will not be tempted with other exotic produce from around the world. You also get a chance to talk directly with the growers and can find out if they use pesticides on their food. Many small farmers use low risk or organic food practices, but lack the finances to apply for the official certification.

To find a farmer’s market near you, check your local paper, contact your town hall, or use the zip code search function on the USDA’s website here. Local Harvest is another great resource. With the covid-19 pandemic there is high demand from people wanting to get local food when the grocery store shelves are bare. There also may have been some changes with farmer’s markets in your community. Some have converted to an order ahead system, while others may limit capacity. This means you will need to do a little more research before you head out.

Community Supported Agriculture: This is called CSA for short and is a way to support a local farmer and the economy in your community. I call it “outsourcing my garden” haha! You purchase a farm “share” and the farm will give you a box of produce at a specified interval. We get our summer share weekly and fall share every other week. Some years will produce better than others depending on the weather, but you are in it with the farmers, so you get to share in the bounty and the hardship.

You can find vegetable, meat, eggs, apples, fruit and other shares for specialty items. There are different types of shares offered throughout the year and some let you customize to pick out what you know you will eat. Just like with farmer’s markets, CSA is gaining popularity as people see the breakdown in our traditional food supply chain with shortages on store shelves during this pandemic. So, if you are trying to get a farm share right now, you may have a bit of difficulty. But keep trying! Less people tend to sign up for spring or fall/winter shares so you may have better luck to get in. Farms then usually offer previous supporters first dibs to sign up for shares in the future. You can read more about CSA and find a farm near you at Fairshare Coalition or at the USDA website here. Localharvest.org is another website with a CSA search function. Many farms will deliver shares right to customers at drop-off sites in downtown, urban areas. Find one that fits your needs.

Pick-your-own Farms: Also called U-pick. This is a fantastic way to get an introduction into harvesting your own food. Then the next year you can try growing it yourself! However, even though I do have a garden, I just don’t have the space to grow as much as we need to keep us eating all year. That is why I still go to U-pick farms, especially to pick berries and freeze a bunch for the winter. Check out pickyourown.org or localharvest.org to find a U-pick farm in your area then head out to get berries, apples, pumpkins, and many other fruits and veggies.

Gardening or homesteading: One of the best ways to eat the seasons would be to grow food yourself (garden-to-table). No matter where you live you can grow something. Even if you already go to a farmer’s market or have a CSA farm share, a garden is a good way to supplement your supply. This is also a great way to be more self-sufficient. If you live in an urban apartment you can grow herbs in pots that you set on a windowsill or under a grow light. If you have a patio or porch you can set out containers to grow tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, strawberries, and other produce. If you have a yard, you can set up raised bed gardens. And if you have a nice large piece of property, you can start your own homestead! Goats, chickens, bees, fields of produce, the options are endless.

Foraging: Go back to your roots and find food in nature, just like our ancestors. You can forage for nuts, berries, greens, roots, mushrooms and herbs. If you are new to this, I suggest doing a lot of research first so that you know that what you are picking is safe to eat. I use this field guide to identify wild berries and fruits as well as this comprehensive guide to foraging by Samuel Thayer. When I first started out, I looked right in my own backyard to find things that I knew were safe, like the tender dandelion greens and wild violets in the spring. Most people are familiar with these plants and some even consider them to be weeds. Wherever you choose to forage, make sure it is not near a farm field or lawn that is sprayed with herbicides/pesticides. The last thing you want is a mouth full of chemicals. Yuck!

Grocery Stores: Unfortunately, the mega supermarkets of today tend to carry food that is produced from big growers in California or other large producers around the world. The wholesale suppliers that are the middlemen, contract with certain companies to stock the shelves in your grocery store. That means most of the time you will not be able to find local produce or other foods made in your home state, even when they are in season. That is why I use the grocery store to stock my pantry staples and try to use the other avenues above to find most of my other food. This isn’t always the case though. If you are lucky enough to have an independent grocery store or food co-op in your area, you are going to find that they tend to work directly with farms and other producers in the area. That means you might be lucky enough to have a home base for seasonal eating all in one place! Be warned though that this probably won’t be your cheapest option. The main thing is that you must read labels carefully. If it doesn’t say where it was produced, assume it is not local and likely not in season either.

More resources for seasonal food sourcing:

Step 2: Meal Planning

Meal planning is often overlooked in the process of cooking, but it is the most essential step to reaching seasonal eating bliss. If you have a CSA farm share, you need to have a plan to make sure that all that wonderful food doesn’t go to waste. Same goes with anything coming out of your garden or from the farmer’s market. You can quickly become overwhelmed with the amount of produce stuffed in your refrigerator. It is important to have a clear strategy in place to keep it out of the landfill.

Some people like to get creative and think of meals on the fly, which is admirable, but I feel like I represent the average person and from experience I know that if I don’t have a plan for every single vegetable that enters my home, it will not get used.

Don’t know where to start? I’ve got you covered. Visit my article on How to Meal Plan for a complete guide on the process. In the meantime, here are some basic tips to make sure you eat the seasons without any waste.

Before you head to the farmer’s market or grocery store, peek in your refrigerator and take stock of what you have on hand already, then take a good look at your garden and consult my seasonal food guide to see what produce you can get right now. Write those items down. If you belong to a CSA, the farm should send you a list in advance of the foods that you will be receiving with each share.
Once you know what foods you will be working with, start brainstorming what recipes you want to eat. I have almost 200 recipes archived here on Green Life Philosophy that you can access for free. I also make out my own seasonal meal plan and share it every week. You can use this as a jumping off point for your own plan. Go to the home page and sign up to have the plans sent directly to your inbox each week. You can also access specific recipes based on season in the categories section.
Be flexible with recipes so that you can swap out what you have on hand during each season. For example, I put spinach and mushrooms in my quiche in the spring, then broccoli in summer, bell peppers in the fall, and kale in the winter.
I try to put a catch-all recipe near the end of my week so that I can throw in practically any vegetable that is leftover. Things like curry, stir fry, and soups are very adaptable.
Keep it simple. Sometimes the most delicious meals are those that are the easiest to make. A fresh sliced tomato with mozzarella and a drizzle of both olive oil and balsamic vinegar is one of my favorite ways to enjoy summer and takes all of 5 minutes to prepare! You don’t have to serve a fancy, gourmet meal every night. If you have kids, they tend to enjoy simple flavors anyways.
Keep one meal on repeat week to week. In my family, every Saturday night is homemade pizza and tossed salad night. My husband now is a pizza dough expert and we always have the ingredients on hand. The pizza toppings change, depending on the seasons and you can throw almost any vegetable into the tossed salad to use up. It doesn’t have to be pizza though; taco night, breakfast for dinner (egg scramble w/ seasonal veggies and pancakes), or soup night are all great ideas too.

Aside from planning what to eat weekly, you also need to think about how you will eat the whole year. What is in season at what time? When is the beef/pork/chicken harvest at your local farm? When is berry picking season so you can stock up? When do I need to plant my garden? These are all questions you should be asking yourself and then marking due dates on the calendar.

Extra Resources:

How to Meal Plan

Seasonal Food Guide: What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season?

Unstuffed cabbage - cooking from scratch - eat the seasons

Step 3: Cooking from Scratch

You have your food, you’ve planned out your recipes, now it is time to eat! Now I know I said cooking from scratch – don’t click off this article yet! You don’t have to be a chef to do this. In fact, the key to successful cooking is to keep it simple. Seasonal eating and homecooked meals go hand-in-hand. It does not mean that you have to grind your own flour or butcher your own meat. Using the food sourcing resources above, you can get fresh food that is already broken down into the building blocks that you need to make homecooked meals. Yes, you will have to do some chopping and learn how to use your stove, but a lot of it just needs very simple prep.

Here are my basic cooking tips:

Utilize YouTube. You can learn just about anything on YouTube. Don’t know how to chop an onion, peel a squash, roast or sauté? Do a quick search, and you can find hundreds if not thousands of videos on these topics. It is the perfect way to self-educate.
Take a cooking class. This is the most hands on way to learn basic cooking techniques. You also get to eat the results at the end! Stores like Sur La Table and William Sonoma host both in-person and online classes for people of all skill levels. Some grocery stores do this too. Other options are to check out your local recreation department or University Extension for class offerings.
Get the right equipment. You do not need a lot to be able to cook at home, but you do need a few basic items like a skillet, cutting board, and baking sheets. You can search for second-hand cookware or request them for gifts to start building your arsenal. In my opinion, it is worth it to invest in some quality equipment. A good knife will last a lifetime compared to that trendy sweater that will be out of style in a year. Here is my Kitchen Essentials Checklist to get you started.
Stock your pantry with the basics. There are just some things you always need to keep around to throw together a good meal. Things like olive oil, spices, and beans. As you get better at cooking you will find out your own preferences and what you use on a regular basis. If you are looking for more guidance, check out my article on How to Stock a Pantry for the First Time.
Have some cookbooks on hand. The classics like the Joy of Cooking and The Better Homes and Gardens cookbook will never lead you astray. They even have some examples with pictures of basic cooking techniques and food prep. Looking up recipes online is fine too (bookmark my website!) but sometimes it is nice to make some tried and true dishes.
Just try it! You do not have to be a trained chef to cook, but you must have the mindset to try. Your early meals may not taste so great (ask my husband about some pumpkin soup I once tried to make in college), but over time with lots of experimentation you will begin to figure out what flavors go together, what you like, and kitchen hacks that will speed up the process. Just give it a try and keep practicing.

Extra Resources:

Kitchen Essentials Checklist for Everyday Homecooking

How to Stock a Pantry for the First Time

Homemade Strawberry Jam - Eat the Seasons

Step 4: Preservation

When the main harvest comes in August and September it is quite easy to find fresh produce just about anywhere. But what about the rest of the year? How do you eat the seasons in the dead of winter? Now that you know the basics for seasonal eating, it’s time to take a deeper dive and learn how to do this year-round. The first thing is that you need to know what is in season and when. Check out my seasonal food guide to become familiar with what foods to look for each month. Once you have that down, it is time to figure out what to do with the excess that you have in the growing season. Here are some ideas for food preservation:

Storage: Some produce needs to be eaten within a week of harvesting. Think greens and other leafy vegetables. Berries also don’t last long, sometimes only a few days in the refrigerator. These green bags will extend the shelf life of produce by a few more days, but you are not going to be able to keep them much longer. However, there are lots of vegetables out there that will keep for quite some time. Root vegetables are just the thing. Think winter squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips, and radishes. Apples work too. Our ancestors used to keep a root cellar to store produce for long periods, often through the entire winter. You can create an area for this too. It must be cool, typically between 32 and 45 degrees with 80-90% relative humidity. Unheated basements work well as does a spare refrigerator with temperature and humidity control.

Freezing: This method of preserving food is very simple. If you have a large freezer, you can store a meat share, like a quarter/half a cow, half a pig, whole chickens etc. You can also pack your own excess fruits and veggies in freezer bags. I like to use silicone bags since they reduce freezer burn. It is also a good way to freeze whole meals to use on busy weeknights. I try to double my meals or soup in the summer in order to keep an extra batch in the freezer. Things like pesto and homemade broth also freeze well.

Overall, freezing is a great way to preserve your food. The catch is that you need enough freezer space to store a supply to get through the winter. If you are in the market for a chest freezer, I suggest first checking out Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace groups as there are often people moving or downsizing looking to get rid of theirs. If you plan to buy a new one, look for a top opening chest freezer rather than a stand up freezer since the stand up versions do not last as long. We learned this the hard way when we had to trash almost a full quarter of a cow when our freezer broke while on vacation. I still cry over that cow when I think about it! We now use temperature sensors that send alerts to our phones if the temperature goes out of range (very helpful if you have kids that tend to leave doors open!)

Canning: A couple hundred years ago our food system was fundamentally changed when it was discovered that by sealing food in jars or cans you could prevent spoilage for years. Nowadays, canned food is very common in the store, but it often has preservatives, lots of salt or sugar added, and BPA chemical lining. By canning at home, you can reduce the additives and still preserve your food safely. It does take a little bit of knowledge and some equipment to properly do the job.

If you are interested in trying out this technique, there are all sorts of books that cover the topic extensively. The most comprehensive book is from Ball (a company that makes glass jars for canning) which has step-by-step instructions and hundreds of recipes. The key is that you have to follow the recipes exactly. They are designed to work with the acidity (or lack thereof) in the food that is being canned. For instance, meats and some vegetables are less acidic, so they need to be canned in a pressure canner for a specific amount of time to make sure it seals properly and doesn’t spoil. Berries and other fruits tend to be more acidic and can be processed in a water bath canner. So, make sure you do your research before getting started.

Dehydrating: Drying food in the sun or curing in a barn has been used across time by lots of different cultures. Nowadays, there are food dehydrators that can make you some raisins or jerky in no time at all. This is also a great way to eat summer foods in the winter. You can dry berries for trail mix, meat for jerky, vegetables to make soup mix, herbs, and cheese for snacking. You can even make your own natural fruit strips. Of course, you can use the oven if you don’t want to purchase a special machine, but the downside is you have to have it on for hours which uses a lot of energy and heats the house. The best dehydrators are are energy efficient, easy to use, and allow you to customize the temperature and the time. Store your dried products in an airtight container and you will have easy snacks for months. Dehydrating is truly a simple way to preserve your food.

Fermenting: This is another age-old technique to keep your food from spoiling. You actually use the good bacteria that is naturally present on the food and in our environment to prevent bad bacteria from taking over and spoiling the food. The most common fermented foods that we eat are yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, and sourdough bread. But there are lots of different options here. Check out this book called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon that has lots of recipes for fermented foods.

Extra Resources:

Seasonal Food Guide: What Fruits and Vegetables are in Season?

Resources

Your path to “eat the seasons” does not end here! Sourcing local food, planning, cooking, gardening, and preserving all take time. It is a constant learning process. There is no right or wrong, it just takes a can-do attitude and lots of support. Jump in whereever you are and do as much as you desire. Here are some additional resources to give you a good start. Happy eating!