The cusp of Autumn and nature's abundance

The current weather might suggest otherwise, but we are now on the cusp of Autumn. In Ayurvedic terms,  this means that it is time for us to release any excess pitta (fire) which has accumulated during the pitta months of summer, and begin to plan for a seasonal cleanse. This doesn’t mean we need to deny ourselves or give ourselves a hard time btw, it just means we can support this seasonal shift by trying to eat well.

Nature makes this super easy though, because she provides all that we need to help us to make this seasonal and indeed energetic shift. You see the summer is all about fire, not least because of the heat of the sun but because of all the activity it brings and indeed demands. It’s very difficult to be still in the summer with the lighter mornings and evenings and the energy which encourages us to be increasingly sociable and inter-acting.

However autumn is dry, rough, windy, erratic, cool, subtle and clear. These are all qualities shared by the vata dosha and because like increases like, autumn is considered a vata season. Autumn is a time of transition. Many trees and shrubs are quietly preparing for winter, leaves are browning, crisping, curling and falling. There is a subtle browning to the earth generally. Soon there will be a crispness in the air and a wind slowly gathering strength.

It can be an empty time making us feel uncomfortable, and yet it is filled with possibility as we too can strip down to a quiet place of being and savour the simplicity in life. This is an amazing time to maintain our closeness to nature which summer encourages, or to begin to cultivate it with foraging to help support the transition, let alone tapping into the hedge veg full of nature’s bounty.  

So let’s talk about taste. Rasa, which is the Sanskrit word for ‘taste’,  is a fundamental guiding principle that helps us to balance the doshas (the fault). In Ayurveda there are six tastes including the following:

• Sweet

• Sour

• Salty

• Pungent

• Bitter

• Astringent

Pitta dosha (which comprises the elements of fire and water) is pacified or calmed with sweet, bitter and astringent tastes. And rather remarkably and magically, nature provides us with lots of sweet, bitter and astringent tastes in its autumnal offerings.

For example, we have the sweet hedgerow fruits such as blackberries, the astringent sloes, and the bitter nettles are back for their second offering this year, lucky us, as nettles are so rich in vitamins and minerals, a great anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant too.

Furthermore, in the garden, there are sweet apples, pears and plums, astringent green beans and spinach and bitter nettles, basil and chard.

I don’t know about you but this makes me very excited because September is a fabulous month to enjoy all of these offerings and get my hands dirty in the kitchen. As my Ayurvedic doctor always says, this is a really effective way to calm and centre the mind and ground one’s energy, a much better form of meditating, especially for those affected by the ‘air’ quality of autumn, than sitting and trying to meditate on the breath.

Furthermore, its really empowering to make your own goodies from nature’s abundance, especially medicines that will see you through the winter months ahead and batch cooking, filling the freezer so that the supplies last.

It’s worth noting that all of these foods are full of fibre to help clean the digestive tract. As the weather begins to turn we will need to prime our digestion for the heavier foods of winter but more on that another time. For now, let’s get making…

Apples and blackberries

I’ve been making the most of the blackberries and apples and followed this recipe, which was well received by E and another friend who loves puff pastry.

I’ve been adding apples and blackberries to my smoothies. I just bung a variety of fruits in my Vitamix with some avocado and sometimes some seeds, together with hazelnut milk and whizz it all together and there you have a yummy lunch.

Pears

I just love pears and am happy to eat these as they come, but they can also be added to smoothies and you can even make pies. They’re lovely with walnuts, and if you are into goat’s cheese then add some of that too, for a super yummy meal.

Elderberries

I love the Elder tree as it offers us so much yumminess. I made elderflower cordial in the summer, just before the solstice, and now just before the equinox I have made some elderberry syrup, to help keep up healthy over the winter months and save on the expense of being this from Hansa! This is a recipe I have followed, it tastes absolutely yummy, so will have to make more before the summer is out! I foraged for the elderberries on sacred land in a clearing by a spring and a couple of wells, free of exhaust fumes. Hansa sells raw honey by the way and there is a lovely organic Acacia one, which works well and is the cheapest they offer!

Mugwort

I’ve been drying mugwort. This is a protective and visionary herb as well as a great cleanser. You can use it to clear space much like sage, but you can also use it as a drink to dream and enter a visionary state of being. Just hang the stem upside down now (the top two-thirds) to dry and then you can use it.

Basil pesto

I just play around with this, adding a handful of basil and spinach into my Vitamin together with some seeds, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and whizz it together. There’s this walnut pesto recipe my mum created which is also yummy, especially if you can get hold of fresh walnuts too. I am happy eating it by spoon from the mixer, or adding it to rice cakes and humus, to keep it simple and avoiding the heaviness of pasta at this time of year.

Nettles

You can literally add some boiling water to a handful of nettles and drink as tea, yummy and very supportive of the digestive tract with its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. It is also high in iron.

Nettle soup is also yummy. I tend to fry a little bit of onion and garlic and then add a variety of vegetables such as beans, broccoli and courgettes, all plentiful at this time, I might add an apple too to encourage sweetness and then the nettles, together with some vegan and yeast free stock and some herbs from the garden such as rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil. Once its all softened I whizz it in the vitamix. This looks like a yummy vegan nettle and coconut milk recipe too.

There’s really no end to what you can create. Much of my offerings are trial and error, go for it!

More on autumn and Ayurveda another time…

Love Emma x