The seasonal return to the Earth element invites simple methods of food preparation that allow more time for self-love and beloveds.  Golden and earth toned foods like millet, corn, amaranth, rice, garbanzo, golden split mung and soy beans, hazelnuts, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, yams, squash, carrots, apricots, and cantaloupe are harmonizing choices.  All root vegetables strengthen our internal Earth.  

Sweet potatoes harmonize during Earth season.

Keep spices, seasonings and flavors mild during these days of transition and keep food temperatures not too hot and not too cold (raw or chilled) ~ honoring the middle way. Simplify cooking and digestion with soups, purees and medium temperature baking during the doyo, or the return to Earth three week period between the seasons.  Soaking and pressure cooking all legumes and grains renders them more digestible as it denatures the lectins, the carbohydrate binding proteins which can damage the lining of our intestines and disrupt digestion if our enzyme pathways are confused or not functioning properly. 

Even in a tiny house, two kitchen gizmos are absolutely worth their weight and shelf space:  an instapot and a good blender ~ a Blendtec or Vitamix are premier if in your budget.  These appliances transform whole foods into meals in minutes. I often create a soup with ginger, carrots (sometimes cashews), and filtered water in 152 seconds in my Blendtec . Yes, from raw ingredients to warm soup in way under three minutes!

This week consider:

a four day vegetable fast,

eating from earthenware (non toxic),

a soup cleanse,

walking barefoot on the earth,

regular eating times.

Walk barefoot during Earth season.

My patients enjoy this mini cleanse that journeys through the entire organ network in seven soups.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Soups:

Lu/Li    Lung/Large Intestine   Cauliflower / Cabbage

St/Sp     Stomach/Spleen   Butternut Squash        

Ht/SI     Heart/Small Intestine   Asparagus/ Turnip      

Bl/Kd    Bladder/Kidney   Lentil/ Cilantro          

Pc/ Tb   Pericardium/Triple Burner   Kale/ spinach/ chard    

Gb/Lv   Gallbladder/Liver   Beet/ Parsnip            

Lu/Li    Lung/Large Intestine   Carrot/ Leek /Ginger    

Cook up one of more of these mini-cleanse veggie soups in a base of vegetable stock or onion, garlic, and salt.  For two servings: combine 1 medium onion, 2-5 cloves garlic, salt to taste in 1 quart of filtered water.  Simmer until onions are not quite clear. Cook on low to medium heat until chopped vegetables are fork tender. Blend with immersion blender, Vitamix, or Blendtec. Add a little olive oil if desired. Best salt sources these days:  Great Salt Lake or the Dead Sea, due to the plastics in our oceans.

To southern cooks, onion, celery, pepper, and garlic constitute the four seasons. Try out a four seasons base as an easy vegetable stock. Some folks do not do well with the nightshade family of vegetables, including peppers (genus Solanaceae) due to their alkaloid content so best for y’all to stick to a ‘mirepoix’. Mirepoix is a 2:1:1 combination of onion, celery, and carrot that is popular in French cuisine. Other folks do not tolerate sulfur foods, like onions and garlic (genus Allium) so simply use a filtered water base. Organic boxed vegetable stocks can be reduced with water for convenience. If you discover a delicious combination, leave us a comment or send us a message.  We will be sure to pass it on.

Optional Earth supporting spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, Chinese five spice, coriander, cumin, turmeric, rosemary, fresh parsley or basil, caraway, and fennel seed may be added for mild complement. Add dried herbs in at the start of preparation; add fresh herbs toward the end. Be creative and enjoy!

Cultivating the Earth element in our surroundings is also a method of balancing and rectifying the energies of the season.  To engender the Earth and provide a grounding entry, we painted our front door at  Alberta Orchard Wellness with a color match to Alabama red clay. We love it! We also left the kiwi arbor in primer tone to temper the metal in the southeast corner of the office. 

Our upcoming project at the tiny house is to apply a natural earth plaster as an interior wall treatment with southwestern clay and crushed Gulf Coast shells. This beautiful and natural clay plaster is not only nontoxic but it is an environmentally conscious product manufactured in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Keep an eye on this space for updates and photographs. But in the meantime, check out the company that makes and sells this earth friendly product that is sure to enrich and beautify our space.

Feng shui bagua, an energy map.

The center of the house represents the Earth according to Feng Shui. The art of placement in ancient China, Feng Shui encourages the flow of Qi in your homes, gardens, and offices. What is in the center of your home, your bedroom, your office, your dining table?  A simplistic fix is to place a pottery vessel centrally, empty or filled with earth from a place that brings you tranquility (beach, mountains, forest, sacred space) or to decorate or accent with earthen and gold tones.  A more complex undertaking would be installing terracotta on the floor or plastering the walls with earthen clay in an area of the home that needs a stronger Earth element to bring balance.  Another Feng Shui tip is to fill a ginger jar with soil from a property with abundance and place it in the wealth corner of your home or office.  Several years ago, I collected soil from a prosperous friend’s rose garden and placed it in the wealth corner of Alberta Orchard Wellness upon opening.  We have experienced an abundance of blessings, for sure.  It may be the Feng Shui or it may be the integrity, perseverance, open mind, grateful heart and good vibrations around here responsible for our success.  Either way, we’ll take it and pass it on!