Transition Your Garden & Plate for Winter
How to nourish your body and soil now — November edition
As the seasonal wheel moves on, we’re slowly rolling into late-fall/early-winter, yet it still feels like there’s so much work to be done. The body knows what the mind doesn’t. Looking at nature to guide us, we see the trees, animals, the sky, and everything else look like it’s layering itself with protection - a layer of hardiness. Other words for “hardy” are “power” and “health”. Much of Winter’s work is disguised as simple rest. Yet, to provide power and health, we need to rest and replenish. Welcome to your winter’s work.
TLDR: There’s a lot of overlap when taking a holistic approach to nutrition and gardening. In this blog post, I provide some gardening tips for November in zones 6, 7, and 8, as well as a few tips on moving inward and taking care of yourself during the cold weather seasons.
November: A Great Time For Soil (and Soul) Prep
Holistic nutrition and good gardening practices are surprisingly very similar. You can plant the most beautiful plants in your garden bed, but if you haven’t let the soil rest and replenish itself, you may be disappointed with the outcomes. In this metaphor (is it a metaphor or is it an analogy, idk), your overall health is the soil; your gut health, your mental health, your social health, etc. November is the seasonally perfect time to focus on resting and replenishing all types of soil. I can only speak as an American here, but we typically associate November with a time of sporadic gluttony and guilt cycles. Hear me out, what if, just for now, we tried to give that up? What if we turned to our inner knowing and allowed ourselves to eat in a way that nourishes us and prepares us for the new year and the new growing cycle?
Soil Tips For November
Clean-up
Empty your pots and containers, rinse them out, and store them upside down if they’re staying outside.
If you haven’t yet, clean up your spent garden beds. Weed as best you can without disturbing the soil too much, as that can hinder the beneficial microbiota living in there.
Soil Work
Once weeded, plant your cover crops and lay down your leaf mulch. Don’t know where to start? I love the info that No-Till Growers releases (video embedded below).
If you have larger growing aspirations for the next growing season, now is the perfect time to get your soil tested at your local Ag Extension.
Indoor Transition
Plant hardy over-winter crops like onions, garlic, and leeks in your garden if you haven’t already.
If your garden is still trucking, you can use row covers to extend your growing season throughout November.
Save the seeds from your favorite plants to plant for next year. Saving seeds from your strongest, healthiest, and most prolific plants can help you create a garden better suited to your specific environment over time. You’re basically working to develop a strain of plant that is more resilient and productive in your local climate
Begin sowing your seeds for indoor herb gardens to get you through the winter.
Bring your herbs inside to enjoy fresh, nutrient-dense meal boosters throughout the winter!
Start growing microgreens. Microgreens are pound-for-pound and penny-for-penny the most nutrient-dense and cost-effective bang for your buck. How to grow microgreens.
Nutrition for November: Embrace What’s Serving You & Get Rid Of The Rest
In many traditions, autumn is the time for refinement. It’s the perfect time of year for stripping away anything that isn’t needed or anything that doesn’t bring integrity to your life. My favorite definition of integrity comes from Glennon Doyle: “ensuring that my inner self and outer self are integrated.” Basically, get rid of anything that doesn’t align with who you are… like who you really are… to the best of your ability.
Anyway, back to nutrition for November: The days become shorter, and the earth’s energy (like ours) moves inward. We use this time to focus on ourselves, our families, and our well-being (this is like our soil!).
Foods That Help Maintain Balance in the Autumn:
Foods and flavors for Autumn should be pungent (aromatic and spicy) to help clear the lungs of congestion and phlegm and stimulate healthy breathing.
Avoid cold or raw foods that allow stagnation and dampness to settle in the body, which contributes to feelings of lethargy.
This is the time of year to enjoy nourishing soups with pungent ingredients like scallions, leeks, ginger, and horseradish.
My favorite late-autumn/early winter foods/flavors are: pears, apricots, plums, persimmons, garlic, leeks, onions, sweet potato, yams, carrots, beets, ginger, cabbage, walnuts, radishes, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, allspice, cardamom, chili, miso, almonds, walnuts, asparagus, broccoli, lemon, mustard greens, honey, sauerkraut, pickles, and olives to name a few.
Think: this Autumn Pear Salad, this Cozy Wild Rice Soup (god, I love soup), oh oh, and this Fire Cider recipe - not for eating but a perfect blend of herbs, spices, and foods for cold-weather wellness.
Book A Nutrition Consult With Me & We Can Work To Plan Your Garden & Your Plate
If you’re interested in all this and feel like you need a little help moving through the clutter online, I’m here for you. While working together:
✓ I’ll work with you to customize nutrition strategies based on seasonal eating, local agriculture, and tried-and-true wisdom.
✓ I can help you design a garden that supports your unique health and nutrition goals.
✓ I will guide you on how to grow and harvest your own food—even with limited space or time.
✓ I’ll consider your physical, emotional, and environmental wellness—not just your diet.
✓ You’ll learn the why behind every recommendation, so you feel in control and informed.
Click here for my free November To-Try List
Next Steps:
Get started on a healthier you this winter. Book a free discovery call today, and we can grow your wellness with a custom plan just for you!
Find out more about how I approach Holistic Wellness
