“You MUST eat this!” says your friend, who is a self-proclaimed food expert, shoving a giant turnip onto your plate. “It’s crammed with anti-oxidants.” So you eat the giant turnip, silently cursing the food expert friend. But what are antioxidants, and what’s the big deal?

Very simply, they’re molecules that counteract damage by free radicals.

“I’ve heard of free radicals,” you say. “But they sound like liberated political revolutionaries. Was Che Guevara a free radical? Are free radicals scary?”

They can be. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can harm cellular structures. Antioxidants help by neutralising the free radicals (pro-oxidants).

Actually, your body does need some free radicals, but too many can cause damage, even illness. We need the right balance between free radicals and antioxidants. When this balance is disrupted, it can lead to oxidative stress, which has wide range of negative effects.

All kinds of stress factors and lifestyle habits can produce excessive free radicals and oxidative stress, like air pollution, smoking, drinking alcohol, toxins, high blood sugar levels, polyunsaturated fatty acids, too much sun, to name just a few.

We say yes to supporting local and eating what’s in season. Isn’t it wonderful to eat a fresh orange or apple – one straight from the orchard, that you know was picked in the last few days, or even the last few minutes, if you happen to be standing in the actual orchard?

Decades ago, before imported food became so common, you’d never eat Spanish oranges in a South African summer, or English strawberries in winter, just to make watching Wimbledon on TV feel authentic. You ate what was available, when it was available. Yes, we sound like your gran, but she was right. There was always a good seasonal supply of fruit and veggies – and if you wanted paw paw in July, you’d just have to wait for summer.

Here are some good reasons to eat what’s in season.

For starters, it just tastes better. That sun ripened flavour is great.

Nutritionally, it’s better too. Seasonally fresh fuit and veggies are picked when they’re ripe and fully developed, with higher levels of antioxidants.

It’s cheaper. When there’s a lot of a product, the prices go down. When you’re eating what’s in season, there’s usually a lot of it.

It’s usually cleaner. When you eat locally grown, seasonal food, you’re probably eating cleaner too, since fewer pesticides are used.

You’ll get creative. Eating only what’s in season will make you think more cleverly about how to use what’s available.

Yes, it is possible to eat for your skin – so we have bad news for the skin care industry. Good, healthy skin is not so much about what you put onto your face – it’s about nutrition. No, this does not mean you should eat your moisturiser.

Eating the right food for your skin isn’t that hard – because some of the things on this list are real treats. Not that you need an excuse to spoil yourself.

Here they are, in no particular order. (Okay, number one is our favourite.)

Dark chocolate

It’s rich in cocoa flavanols, and that helps keep your skin hydrated.
Our chocolate skin expert says a daily 25 – 30 grams, or 630 kj, is all it takes to get the benefits without adding to your waistline.

Grass-fed beef

Choose grass-fed beef and you’ll be getting a higher ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids as well as nearly 30 grams of protein in every 100 gram serving. It’s protein that builds collagen and elastin tissue, keeping your skin taut and less wrinkled.

Walnuts

If you’re looking for omega-3 fatty acids (and you should be if you’re a vegetarian who eats no fish) then the magnificent walnut is the only nut in the hood that will give you enough. Walnuts know they’re special because they have alpha-linolenic acid. And without that, you’re more susceptible to eczema.

Oatmeal

Choose oatmeal over oilier, sugary breakfasts and you’ll avoid the insulin spike as well as the excess oiliness that clogs pores and creates pimples. Choose oatmeal because your granny was right. And choose oatmeal because it’s quick, easy and delicious.

One of our favourite things about cooler weather is … it means soup season is here! So many recipes, and it’s so easy to throw together your favourite ingredients, or whatever’s left over in the fridge.

Here’s a soup that we know you’ll love, because it’s full of so many good things, but mainly, cauliflower and broccoli, which have a very special anti-oxidant called CoQ10.

According to mindbodygreen.com, researchers think CoQ10 can help with conditions like heart disease, immune function, diabetes, cognition, and even migraines because of its antioxidant activity, effect on energy production, and ability to prevent blood clots.

So this recipe for creamy broccoli and cauli soup with kale and toasted pumpkin seeds is also medicine – and it won’t need a spoonful of sugar.

RECIPE:

Creamy Broccoli and Cauli Soup with Kale and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cauliflower, roughly chopped
2 cups broccoli, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
200 g kale, washed and roughly chopped
100 g cheese, diced / or half a cup of cream
1 x chicken (or vegetable) stock cube, dissolved in 6 cups hot water
Olive oil
Butter

Growing your own veggies is a wonderful thing. Have you ever pulled a carrot out of the soil in your own garden? Or cut off a huge armful of spinach? Or just a few basil leaves from a window sill pot plant? If you have, well done to all of you soil lovers.

Natures Garden farmers love supplying veggies to the people of South Africa​, and ours are the most convenient, ​so you’d never dream of ​not having a few bags of our best in your freezer​.​ But growing your own i​s also so rewarding – you’ll feel like a bit of a farmer in your own backyard.​ And it’ll help you understand what makes our farmers tick.

If you want to start, you can do it with a fairly small patch of soil. Just make sure you choose the right vegetables to plant for your area and climate. And also, remember to plant at the right time.

So what can you plant in March?

A lot depends on the climate in your area. Here’s a handy guide to the vegetables most suited to growing in your province.

Gauteng: Beetroot, Lettuce, Onions, Radishes, Spinach

Western Cape:: Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Lettuce, Parnsips, Potatoes, Radishes, Spinach

KZN: Beetroot, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Lettuce, Parsnip, Spinach

The big, beautiful flowering stems of the March lily emerging from the bare ground are a sign that our South African summer is coming to an end.

Its botanical name is Amaryllis Belladonna, and plants of this genus have several names: Belladonna lily, Jersey lily, Amarillo and in South Africa, March lily – because it flowers around March.

It’s called a “lily” because of its bell shape and growth habit, but the March lily isn’t really a true lily. In the Victorian Language of Flowers (secret codes for what each flower represented) – amaryllis means “pride”. And these blooms definitely are the pride of late summer.

Here’s an interesting fact about this flower. In places where it grows among fynbos, like in the Western Cape, it doesn’t flower until after a bush fire. That’s because dense overhead vegetation

Really, painting eggs is so easy and so rewarding, when you make time for it. There’s always time to do something you’ve been meaning to do, if you do it in small chunks.

“But I could never sew that, I’m too busy.”
“I would love to repaint that chair, but I have SO many other things on the go.”
“I can’t read books. I just don’t have enough time.”

Not enough time. That’s a complaint or an excuse that most of us make. And it’s only really true sometimes, for some of us.

Think of your typical weekday. What did you actually do with every hour? Or every quarter hour?

Even if you have 15 or 20 idle minutes, that’s enough time to take on a ‘project’ – like gorgeous, decorated Easter eggs. They may be hours of work, but in bite-sized pieces, you can decorate one every time you’re not busy.

Did you know that purple is the ‘Colour of the Year’? Who gets to decide that?

Pantone, the colour people, that’s who. Actually, to be more precise, it’s ultra violet, but that’s a shade of purple.

They call it “… a dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future.”

Well when it comes to ingenuity, we love the wonderful things you can do with purple food. Like aubergines (AKA brinjals and egg plant), mulberries and an African favourite: beetroot. These all look so great on the table, so dramatic and bold, but they taste great too. Here’s a fresh new way to use roasted aubergines and beetroot in a salad.

It’s become the new normal in certain parts of South Africa: water saving. The Western and Eastern Cape may be the only areas experiencing water shortages right now but with climate change becoming a reality, any area could be affected next season, so don’t be complacent if you’re currently not short of water.

Where do we use most of our household water? We’ve done some research and, inside the home, it’s definitely these: washing machines, piles of dishes and pots, bathing and showering. multiple toilet flushes, and dishwashing machines.

Outside the house, it’s sprinkler systems, car washing with a hose and filling up the pool.

So here are the rules to follow if you want to be water-wise:

Take a short shower instead of a deep bath. And let the water flow gently rather than gush out at full volume. Use a bucket to collect the water, OR: Put a small inflatable kiddy pool in your shower stall to catch EVERY drop of water.

Always save bath and shower ‘grey water’ for watering plants or flushing the toilet. And don’t flush unless its necessary.

Grey water that stands in a bucket can get smelly after a day or two, so to prevent that, add a capful of bleach or liquid toilet cleaner.

Clean your hands with disposable wipes, or a soap and water mix in a spray bottle rather than under a running tap.

Too much stuff is just becoming too much. “This clever new gadget is a must-have!” you’re told, so you buy it. Most of us are guilty of shopping too much, buying more than we need, and overstocking our cupboards, fridges and wardrobes,

Perhaps, where food is concerned, it’s human nature to ‘stock up’ and store, dating from a time when this was necessary for our winter survival. A bad harvest or a war could mean hardship, so we hoarded supplies and materials.

Today, with our affluent middle class, it’s fashionable to have and to show off any material things, and because things have become fashionable rather than just functional, they inevitably go out of fashion, so we replace them often. The result: a world of excess stuff, tossed aside because it’s no longer cool.

It’s killing our planet, and we need to stop it.

How can you reduce your unnecessary consumption? Here are a few tips.

Swop or trade with friends the things you no longer want, whether it’s a cushion, a chair, a lampshade or a coat.
Instead of always buying new gifts, see if you can re-gift one of your good-as-new impulse purchases that you don’t need or never use.

Have a no-shopping day, once a week, but don’t go out and splurge the next day to compensate.