Autumn

E9A4BCCD-65AF-405F-9644-82DC4AB0773B.jpg

Element: Metal

Direction: West

Yin: Lung

Yang: Large Intestine

Emotion: Grief

Color: White

Flavor: Spicy


Harvest Time:

Feel the out-breath of this season. The leaves are letting go of the year’s abundance and reminding us to finish the harvest season and fall back into the Earth. We use this season as a time to harvest the last of the bounty and prep the beds and tools for the cool months to come. Nuts and seeds are collected for protein source or dispersed for next year’s growing season. Roots are unearthed before the ground freezes over. Berries and fruits are fully ripened. And the musky, earthen smells remind us that decay is here– mycelium, spores and fungal blooms.

September- Early Autumn

October- Mid Autumn

November- Late Autumn


What to Harvest:

Mushrooms

Roots

Berries

Fruits

Seeds

Nuts


Plants:

Alumroot root

Artist Conk

Burdock root and seed

California Bay seed

Chantrelle

Chicory root

Comfrey root

Dandelion root

Devil’s Club root and bark

Dock root and seed

Echinacea seed

Elderberry fruit

Elecampane root

False Solomon Seal root

Hawthorn berry

Hazelnuts

Horseradish root

Juniper berry

Mullein root

Nettle root and seed

Oak acorns

Plantain seed

Red-belted Conk

Rose hips

Sumac berry

Teasel root

Valerian root

Wild Ginger root


Food as Medicine:

Autumn is abundant with a contracting nature. While we reap the harvest of the seeds previously sown, we let go of the old, the rotten, the past. This awareness may influence our choice in foods that are more astringent and heartier.

As we organize and reflect from our scattered summer months, our body begins to focus. Sour flavored foods stimulate the body to do so. Recommended sour foods for Fall include: sourdough bread, sauerkraut, olives, pickles, leeks, azuki beans, dried plums vinegar, cheese, yogurt, lemons, limes, and rose-hip tea.

Autumn can either be very drying or dampening.

If you are in a dry habitat, moisten your body with foods such as: tofu, spinach, barley, pears, apples, persimmons and loquats, seaweeds, mushrooms, almonds, pine nuts, honey and various dairy products.

If you are in a damp habitat, or exhibit symptoms of excess phlegm, incorporate pungent foods and herbs such as: fennel, flaxseed, cayenne, watercress, garlic, onions, turnips, ginger, radish, daikon, nettles, elecampane root, and mullein. Simple, small, cooked meals can reduce toxic buildup and mucus.

how to prepare your meals

The weather is cooling down, and cooking methods involve more preparation as we move towards soups, stews and oven baked dishes. Root crops and cold weather greens grow more apparent towards the end of the month- requiring us to cook with less water, at lower heat and for longer periods of time. In this way, we can warm the hearth of the home and the heart of the body.