Cold-weather Superfoods!

By Patty McManus and Kia Armstrong, Nash’s Organic Produce

Originally published in Peninsula Families Today, an advertising supplement produced by Peninsula Daily News and & Sequim Gazette

As the seasons change and we get out our coats and turn up the heater, our bodies also experience changes in energy levels, metabolism and even food preferences. We feel the need for “comfort foods”—meals that make us feel warm all over and fortify us against the cold. But if you are just serving up mac ‘n cheese and calling it good, you might not be getting what you need to stay healthy all winter long.

Foods that truly warm us are foods that take longer to grow. These veggies have had more time to accumulate the vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients (natural plant chemicals that help fight diseases) our bodies need for a strong immune system, and they include most root vegetables (carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, and potatoes) and cruciferous vegetables (kales, cabbages, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts). Compared with lighter, leafy veggies we associate with summer (like lettuces) that tend to grow much more quickly, these roots and crucifers provide the human body with the nutrition and flavors that make winter a season to enjoy.

Local farmers markets have great produce well into the fall and winter months (Port Angeles Farmers Market goes all year long!) Some of these locally-produced vegetables really pack a healthy punch for you and your family.

Carrots

Fall and winter are the best times to enjoy carrots.  Rich in vitamins A and C, potassium and insoluble fiber, carrots also contains magnesium, which relaxes you and aids in muscle recovery. They’re much easier to digest when cooked, and very warming to the body this way as well. Slice into bite-sized pieces and toss ‘em into soups and stews!

The bright orange color comes from beta-carotene, an important precursor to vitamin A, and it protects against macular degeneration and senile cataracts.  Carrots have also been shown to protect against some cancers and cardiovascular disease.

You can steam, mash, sauté, roast, and even grill carrots. They can be candied, grated into salads, added to cookies, soups, stews and quiches. They are one of the most versatile of vegetables!

Beets

Beets get a lot of attention for being a unique source of ‘betalains’, phytonutrients that are known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification supportive properties.

Beets are also an excellent source of folate and a very good source of manganese, potassium, and copper. They are rich in dietary fiber, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, iron, and vitamin B6.

Steaming beets helps maximize their nutrition and flavor. Fill the bottom of the steamer with an inch of water and bring to a rapid boil. Add beets, cover, and steam for 15 minutes. Beets are cooked when you can easily pierce with a fork. Serve on top of salads or sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and serve as a vegetable side dish.

Save those greens! Beet greens are lovely sautéed and offer you the same nutrient density as the root. It’s a two-for-one deal! Prepare them like you would Swiss chard.

Dark, Leafy Greens

Dark leafy greens, such as beet greens, kale, chard and collards, thrive in the chill of winter when the rest of the produce section looks bleak. In fact, a frost can sweeten them up, because the plant uses sugar as an antifreeze. Winter greens are particularly rich in vitamins A, C and K. Collards and mustard greens are also excellent sources of folate, important for women of childbearing age.

The phytochemicals found in winter greens help our liver cells excrete toxins. One cup of chopped greens has 100% of the average daily vitamin A requirement and ¾ of the daily vitamin C requirement.

The dark winter greens lend themselves particularly well to soups and stews because they hold up well in the cooking process. But don’t overcook them. Add them towards the end of the cooking time, so that they maintain their nutritional benefits.

Winter Squashes

There are many varieties of winter squash—including pumpkin, butternut, acorn, delicata and spaghetti squash—and they are all excellent choices for winter nutrition. One cup of cooked winter squash has around 80 calories, but is high in both vitamin A (214 percent of the recommended daily value) and vitamin C (33 percent), as well as being a good source of vitamins B6 and K, potassium and folate. Squash’s high fiber makes it especially filling, yet it’s one of the easiest veggies to digest since it has a high water content.

Winter squashes are easy to enjoy. Punch a couple of vents into the skins and place on a baking sheet. Bake in a moderate oven for an hour, allow to cool a little and cut open. Season the insides with garlic salt, pepper, even cumin or turmeric. You can also bake the seeds for a healthy snack.

CSAs Offer Eating Adventures!

By Kia Armstrong and Patty McManus-Huber of Nash’s Organic Produce

Originally published in Peninsula Families Today, an advertising supplement produced by Peninsula Daily News and Sequim Gazette.

Spring has finally sprung and farmers all over the Olympic Peninsula are shaking off winter’s chill and eagerly prepping fields for row crops and grains, and filling greenhouses with veggie transplants. It’s an exciting time of year, as seeds for future harvests are sown, and local growers put everything they’ve got into the new growing season. Local farmers are committed to growing healthy food for their community, and Spring is a perfect opportunity for local families to partner with growers to make it all happen.

Farmers face many challenges especially early in spring when their product range is smaller. Winter produce is gone and fields are being planted for the upcoming season. But it’s also an expensive time of year when farmers need to purchase seed, diesel, and equipment, plus hiring seasonal workers.  In a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, families pay upfront for the boxes of fresh food they will receive all summer and fall. By investing in their local growers, families not only literally help plant the farm, but forge a meaningful relationship with the people and land producing their food.

CSAs offer an opportunity for families to not only eat seasonally, but to understand the ups and downs of farming. Every time Mom and Dad pick up the weekly box, kids gain insight into what’s in season at that moment, and they also have the chance to learn why this region doesn’t grow certain crops (like mangoes or melons) but has a bounty of other produce (like carrots, beets, berries and brassicas). Tips and recipes for preparing lesser-known veggies, like kohlrabi or fava beans, are usually shared in weekly newsletters, and the CSA box becomes a treasure trove of information and culinary inspiration.

Kids love picking up the family’s weekly box directly from the farm, or at a farmers market. It’s fun to open the box and be surprised by the fresh colors and flavors! Children are often more game to try new veggies if they have a connection to where they have been grown. Once you have signed up for a CSA, contact your farm and see if there are any opportunities to visit, so your family can actually see the place where your food was produced.

Several Olympic Peninsula farmers offer CSA programs, including Chi’s Farm, River Run Farm, Salt Creek Farm, and Nash’s Organic Produce. You can also go online at LocalHarvest.org, or Google “CSA Sequim” or “CSA Port Angeles.” Check one out with your family today and get in on the seasonal eating adventure!

Gardening with Children

August is a great month for planting a fall and winter garden with your family. 

by Kia Armstrong and Patty McManus, Nash’s Organic Produce

Originally published in Peninsula Families Today, an advertising supplement produced by Peninsula Daily News and Sequim Gazette.

Our unique microclimate on the North Olympic Peninsula allows for the harvest of fresh greens and roots all fall long and for most of the winter, extending access to fresh food for the family, providing a venue for fun outdoor lessons and inspiring a sense of wonder for nature.

Greens, like kale, collards, baby bok choi, arugula, mizuna, spinach, parsley and cilantro, as well as root veggies, like carrots, beets, parsnips and sunchokes can grow well outside a greenhouse if you get seedlings and transplants in the ground now, so that they have time to get established before the weather shifts.

Now is also a great time to think about what parts of your garden you might want to “put to bed” under a blanket of cover crop so the soil can rest. Cover crops of rye, vetch or fava beans help reduce erosion during the rainy months, while fixing nitrogen to the soil as they grow, and stifling weeds.  They can be tilled under come spring, to add organic matter to your soil as you prepare for spring planting.

Your children can participate in all these activities! Engaging them in the garden helps them learn about where their food actually comes from, encourages them to eat what they have planted, creates a feeling of wonder and magic as they see the plants emerge from the soil, and builds self-esteem as they help put food on the family’s table.

Tips for Gardening with Children

• Don’t get too attached to anything in particular.  Assume that your kids will, at some point, step on, “weed,” or otherwise destroy something you have planted.  Although it’s important to try and teach proper care and respect for the living plants and soil, kids are kids.  If you want the garden to be fun place for exploration and learning, be flexible and patient about how they participate.
• Stay one step ahead, so they always have somewhere to “help.”  Kia’s son Spencer has a special area that moves around as the garden progresses. He gets to be a rototiller with his toy tractors and dig random holes and do whatever he wants to a bed while it’s being prepped, but once it’s finally planted and mulched, he’s not allowed to dig there anymore. However, Mom and Dad always make sure there is another spot in the garden ready for him to dig up so he can still be fully engaged at his two-year-old level.
• Provide some simple tools for your children, such as kids’ scissors, trowels, harvest buckets, sprinklers, small shovels and mini-wheelbarrows.  Teach them how to use the tools, and how to care them, too, by putting them away or cleaning them as needed.  The kids’ scissors are perfect for safely cutting lettuce leaves and herbs.
• Fill up a 5-gallon bucket with water and give your children small watering cans to dunk and water the plants. This will also help keep them cool on hot days.
• As you pull weeds, let your children load them into a wagon and carry them to the compost pile.
• Set a good example for health.  Munch your way through fresh greens, peas and herbs in the garden while you’re working.  Demonstrate that eating fresh greens is crunchy and delicious!  Even if they don’t take to it right away, make a simple rule that if they want to help pick it, they should also eat it, even if it’s just one little bite. This will help broaden your child’s palette and willingness to try new foods.
• Slow down in the garden.  Back off the to-do list once in a while, and just sit and observe the garden with your child.  Watching bees and other pollinators, observing birds and slugs, and tracking changes to plants as they grow connects children to the natural wonders of nature and growing food.
• Share the wealth!  Your child will get immense pride sharing what they have helped grow with friends and neighbors.  It also helps build a supportive network that positively reinforces the importance of growing your own food and taking responsibility for your health.

Let Your Children Help in the Kitchen

Cook simple meals together to extend the lessons from the garden right into the kitchen and on to your family’s plates.  Giving kids a chance to actively participate in meal preparation sets the foundation for valuable life-long skills.

• Kids can use their scissors to trim herbs from the garden or a container on the deck and then snip them into soups or stir-fries.
• Harvest fresh salad greens with them right into the salad spinner, and then let them help rinse and spin-spin-spin the salad.
• Even butter knives are “sharp” enough to cut asparagus, zucchini or string beans, so give your kid some tools and their own cutting board and let them go to town.
• Enjoy your meal as a family, without electronic distractions. Be sure to comment on how good the food tastes and thank your helpers!

Spring—Time for a garden, time for a picnic!

by Patty McManus-Huber, Nash’s Organic Produce

Originally published in Peninsula Families Today, an advertising supplement produced by Peninsula Daily News and & Sequim Gazette

Children’s bodies grow using the food they eat as building blocks. That’s why it’s important to avoid food that contains fungicides, pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. Your local farmers markets are great places to purchase healthy, fresh, organic fruits and veggies that taste delicious. Involving children in shopping the market with you and meeting the people who grow the food makes them more inclined to eat fresh food, too.

Now is also the perfect time of year to start a small garden with your children! Let them help choose the veggie seeds or plant starts, and show them or learn together how to plant them and what they need to grow. Putting a seed in the ground, waiting patiently for it to germinate and watching it grow is as close to magic as you can get. It also teaches patience and a closeness to nature that modern children rarely experience, and creates memories that can last a lifetime.

If you live in an apartment, try lettuces or strawberry plants grown in pots on a patio. You can also rent a space in your local community garden (two in Sequim and two in Port Angeles) so your children can see what other people are growing. Imagine their thrill pulling up carrots that they planted themselves and taking them home to show other family members and have for dinner!

Picnic Time!

Eating outside is so different from the ordinary places kids associate with meal time, such as the dinner table or school cafeteria. Parents can use outside eating adventures to encourage outdoor physical activity and healthy eating.

1. Let your kids help you pack the picnic basket. If they have made some selections on their own, they are more likely to eat them once you open the basket and spread out the goodies. Keep in mind, if you don’t have junk food in the house, it won’t end up in the basket! Be sure to bring a tablecloth or blanket to spread on the ground. It adds to the festive atmosphere and keeps dirt and grass from getting into your food.
2. Bring a cooler along with juices and water so everyone stays hydrated.
3. If your kids hesitate to eat cut-up vegetables, bring some dips, like ranch dressing, hummus, salsa, and yogurt-based dressings.
4. Include some healthy desserts. How about whole grain muffins baked with grated zucchini or chopped apples?
5. Have fun with shapes! Julia Buggy, mother to Amara (left) and Rayna, made this delightful “flower garden” with a flower cookie cutter using sliced fresh and cooked beets, rutabaga and cucumber for leaves, broccoli sprouts for grass, leek strips for stems, and fresh herbs with seasonings and yogurt for one dip and hummus for the other. Apple slices can also be used as flower petals, and grapes can become little bugs in the garden that climb the flower stems to pop into the mouth!
6. The fun also extends to make-believe. Turn lightly steamed and cooled broccoli florets into tiny trees and your child can be the giant or T-Rex that gobbles them up!
7. Keep phrases like “it’s good for you” to a minimum and instead, tell children that healthy foods help them grow big and strong, like the adults who seem to be in control of their lives. Prove it to them by eating the veggies yourself. This goes for every meal, not just picnics.
8. Use the leftover parts of the veggies from the cookie cutter for a stir-fry or veggie juice. Add an apple to the veggie juice, put some in fun little glasses and share it with your children. They are more likely to drink fresh juices if they see their parents enjoying them.

Spring is the time for new beginnings. Enjoy all it has to offer with your children.