By: Loris Sofia Gregory, Healthy Kitchen Coach, Apple Valley, MN

 Welcome to the first month of autumn, bringing to fruition the growth of spring and summer and the harvesting of nature’s gifts before a long winter’s rest. It’s also a time for us to reap the benefits of efforts and energy put into our health, our relationships and projects over the last few months. We can still savor our last bites of garden-fresh sweet corn, tomatoes and watermelon but we feel a change in the air and notice new FRESH & LOCAL at Valley Natural Foods. Be greeted at our door with a cornucopia of hearty winter squashes and pumpkins. Explore further for more healthy whole food this month, including an autumnal rainbow of apples, beets, parsnips, potatoes and onions, with more earthy bounty to come. Autumn is the time to prepare for more nesting at home, including drying, freezing and canning FRESH & LOCAL vegetables and fruits, stocking up wood and fuel for our hearths and bringing our warmer clothes out of hiding.  READ MORE

Register for our upcoming FRESH & LOCAL events! Register online, in-store or by call 952-891-1212 ext. 221.

FREE FRIDAY FILM: FORKS OVER KNIVES, September 14: 6-8 p.m. Led by the personal journeys of pioneering researchers Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, this film follows “reality patients” who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes. Doctors teach their patients how to enjoy a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments, as the film reveals their challenges and triumphs. Free but please register in advance.

FRESH & LOCAL FLAVORS OF AUTUMN, Tuesday, September 18, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., $27 members / $30 nonmembers. Be confident and inspired in choosing, preparing and seasoning the FRESH & LOCAL flavors of autumnal vegetables and fruits. Enjoy an interactive produce tour, hear about our local farm partners for September and October, and learn the benefits of earth-friendly seasonal eating. I will demo easy preparation and cooking techniques paired with Frontier herbs and spices. This class includes demos, tasting and recipes for Polenta Pizza with Roasted Root Vegetables and Baked Stuffed Apples, plus additional seasonal recipes. Please register by Friday Noon, September 14. Use coupon code #5130 for $3 off online registration.

Veggie and herb plants from Green Earth Growers have been selling briskly here at the co-op! If you have not had a chance to shop for your garden veggie plants yet, there’s still some interesting varieties available at highly competitive prices!

Fatali Pepper – If you missed out on the legendary ghost pepper plant (wow, we quickly ran out of those) then give the Fatali a try. Though not quite as hot as the ghost, they still bite hard with a rich citrus taste! Grown and very popular in Africa, the Fatali is fantastic for making amazing hot sauce. The fruits resemble ghost peppers but ripen to a bright yellow instead of orange and are just a bit smaller.

Heirloom Green Grape Cherry Tomato – Don’t be afraid of the name of these prolific heirloom tomatoes! They’re ripe when they have chartruse-yellow skins and they taste rich, zesty and sweet! Some people think red cherry tomatoes taste boring in comparison.

Heirloom Valencia Tomato – This tomato is rich and meaty with only a few seeds!  When ripe, the medium-sized fruits boast a bright orange, smooth skin and burst with sweet, refreshing flavor.

Other tomato varieties still available are Northern Lights, Black Krim, Striped Roman, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Brown Berry Cherry and Beefsteak. Also available are a few chards, kales, peppers, onions, squashes, herbs—even some fennel! Stop by soon as supplies are going fast!

Three weeks ago, Green Earth Growers delivered a beautiful shipment of cool season bedding plants and they’ve been selling well! Still available is a nice selection of  kales, squash mixes, cole mixes and  chards.

Recently, a second shipment of bedding plants has arrived which includes a wonderful variety of tomatoes, peppers and herbs. Ever hear of an Isis Candy cherry tomato? It’s a golden yellow heirloom with red marbling and tastes as sweet as candy! We have those and other fun heirlooms like Brown Berry Cherry, Eva Purple Ball, Hillbilly and others for sale. Are you more of a pepper fan? We have those too in hot or sweet varieties. Stay tuned – more varieties of bedding plants will be arriving shortly!

The average last frost date for the Twin Cities this year was between May 10 and May 15 which means it’s time to get planting, if you have not already!

Look for pretty floral hanging baskets while you’re here, also grown by Green Earth Growers.

Visit our online coupons page and save on bedding plants! Coupon good through May 29, while supplies last.

What’s red and yellow-striped on the outside, and is dense, juicy-sweet on the inside? It’s an heirloom tomato variety called Striped German. Or how about “it’s like eating candy right off the vine?” Two cherry varieties known for that description are Matt’s Wild and Peacevine.

Discover exciting colors, shapes and tastes in your own garden this year by planting heirlooms!  Be on the lookout June 1st for a new shipment of flower, herb and veggie bedding plants arriving on Tuesday, June 1st from  Gardens of Eagan. Plants will be available in the produce department throughout the planting season.

Here’s a great tomato planting tip:

Remove plant from pot, pinch off leaves half way up the stem, place the plant sideways into a “trench” (instead of a hole) and carefully bend the top of the plant upward before covering with dirt. The buried stem will produce roots resulting in a stronger, healthier and higher-yeilding tomato plant!