Summertime is an excellent time to change up and improve your eating. It provides more variety of fresh fruits and veggies at great prices. It’s a huge missed opportunity to not take advantage of that.

Courtesy 123RF/Peter Bernik

Everybody knows the more fresh fruit and vegetables you eat, the better. Yet it’s easy to get stuck in the same old eating patterns and convenience foods.

Expand Your Palate

I recently visited my brother and sister-in-law. Their eight raised-bed gardens were amazing. There’s something special about sampling fresh produce from a beautiful garden.

I eat a lot of greens. But I also have my few that I gravitate towards. Although I know how good collard greens are nutritionally, I’ve never eaten them. I somehow had the impression they were bitter so I’ve stuck to what I know and like.

My brother gave me a raw leaf of collard greens from their garden. I was stunned by how much I liked it. It was less bitter than most greens. And I ate more collard greens the rest of the weekend that any other greens.

We are all like that to some degree. You’re probably missing out on many great foods you’d like if you’d just venture out from your norm a bit. Summertime is the best time to do that.

Ways To Tap Into The Fresh Foods Of Summer

1. Buying whatever is in season. Seasonal varieties of both fruits and veggies can change each week during the summer. Purchasing what’s in season is a great way to not only expand your palate but also save money as well. Watch for grocery store sales as an indicator of seasonal foods to purchase each week.

2. Explore the local farmers’ market. They are in most communities today and provide great produce grown locally. Not only are you getting the freshest seasonal produce at affordable prices, you’ll also enjoy the whole experience. It’s a great Saturday morning outing with a cup of coffee and the whole family.

3. Community food co-ops and nursery farms. Belonging to a food co-op allows you to also get the weekly seasonal sampling of locally grown food. A fixed price provides you with a bag or box filled with great produce. Many nurseries have area farms that grow organic food you can order in advance and pick up on a certain day of the week.

4. Grow your own food. My parents had a huge garden when I grew up. I was eating organic before we ever used that word. Mom would can or freeze enough to last us throughout the year. You may not have the space or the time to grow everything your family may eat all year, but growing your own favorite foods during the summer can be done almost anywhere. Many apartment communities have raised beds for their tenants to use. Most vegetables can be grown in your flower bed or even single pots on your patio or balcony.

My main point is encourage you to take advantage of the summer’s bounty. Eat more fresh berries and melons. Try produce you’ve never tasted. Grow a few tomato or bell pepper plants at home with the kids.

You never know—your tastes may change. You may end up actually craving more fruits and veggies. That would be one of your greatest benefits from this summer.