How to Grow Greens Spring or Fall in 25 Days & 3 Fab Smoothie Recipes

Updated 5/2020

This homesteading post really more about my smoothie recipes (below) than greens 

But are fresh greens really possible in the late autumn? Yes! Absolutely!

Does your body crave access to life-giving, healing greens to get back on the road to health? You may feel the need to boost your health after a long winter or fortify before heading back into winter. Blended, balanced green smoothies are a simple and delicious way of accessing the healing properties of greens.

Depending on your region, even without a cold frame, there are succulent fresh greens you can grow in a tiny space fall and early winter. They don’t get any fresher and you know what they have sprayed on them…hopefully nothing! Plus, for being EASY to grow, they rate a 10.

Some are ready to begin picking in as early as 25 days!

My Top Picks For an Easy-Growing Fall Greens Garden

Find excellent seed companies that are NOT affiliated with Monsanto listed here.

1.) Spinach – abundant baby greens in 27 days. Sow thickly into a pot, raised bed or worked, composted soil.

2.) Tender and highly-nutritious chard in 28 days.

3.) My favorites for mildness and available nutrients are bok choi (20-25 days) and chard in my daughter’s arms (top photo).

You might also use:

• versatile kale
• detoxifying cilantro
• nutrient-rich beet tops
• and any baby salad mix you find in the hardware store seed display

Right now we are making smoothies by adding a few lovely chard leaves from the garden (minus stem) until the new crop of little babies grow up (did you ever think that’s why we sometimes call a garden a nursery?) The nutrients in chard are among the highest available. I really want to find ways to use chard because it’s SO easy to grow, and I’ve never experienced any pests.

Basic Berry Greens Smoothie Recipe (makes 5-6 servings)

• 2-4 bananas (to taste)
• 1 c. organic yogurt (for DF, I use 3/4 c. coconut manna or coconut cream unsweetened)
• 2 c. dairy milk, almond milk or coconut milk, etc.
• 2 c. frozen fruit (cherries, raspberries, mango, antioxidant packed aronia berries (we add a bit of stevia or raw honey to balance their stronger taste), or blueberries)
• 2 good size handfuls of chard leaves minus the stems or greens of your choice

Same directions as above:

1. Add water and leafy greens to your blender and secure lid.
2. Press “Pulse” 4–6 times to chop greens.
3. Add fruit and secure lid. Blend on a Medium to Medium-High speed for 50-60 seconds.

For a POWER breakfast or snack after WORKOUT you can add:

• flax seed
• bone broth protein powder (taste is not noticed) For 10 grams of types I, II, and III collagen/serving!
• spirulina
• raw shredded coconut, unsweetened
• virgin coconut oil
• cinnamon which stabilizes blood sugar, etc
• grass-fed gelatin for collagen (great for skin, hair and nails)
• 1-2 tsp local raw honey (for enzymes and live, active anti-allergy pollen)

We added raspberries to this one and it is that beautiful, brilliant raspberry color, almost the color of watermelon!

The Balanced Superfood Smoothie

A super-food green smoothie doesn’t taste anything like spinach, beets, or kale. If properly balanced it is sweet, nurturing, and nutritious.

Luckily, making a nutritionally balanced smoothie is simple – just follow these six steps, and you’ll have a healthy and satisfying meal on the go:

1. Choose a Base (1/2 – 1 cup):

100% Fruit juice, almond milk, brewed tea, coconut water, milk, rice beverage, water

2. Choose a Fruit (1 – 1 1/2 cups):

Apple, banana, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, grapes, kiwi, mango, melon, oranges, papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, raspberries, strawberries

3. Choose a Vegetable (1 – 2 cups):

Beet greens, spinach, chard, kale, Romaine, bok choi, carrots, celery, collard greens, cucumbers, pumpkin or spinach

4. Choose a Protein (Amount varies):

Greek yogurt, protein powder, gelatin or Cottage cheese

5. Choose a Healthy Fat (Amount varies):

Coconut (oil, cream or manna or shredded), Avocado (¼ avocado), chia seeds (1–2 Tbsp), chopped nuts (1/8 cup), ground flax seeds (1–2 Tbsp), hemp seeds (1–2 Tbsp), nut butter (1 Tbsp)

6. Give it a Boost (Amount varies):

Raw cocoa powder, fish or cod liver oil, vanilla extract (my recipe), spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, mint, etc.), ice, pink salt, raw honey

Green smoothies are easy to digest. When blended well, all the valuable nutrients in the fruits and veggies become homogenized, or divided into such small particles that it becomes easy for the body to assimilate the nutrients. In fact, the green smoothies literally start to get absorbed while still in your mouth.  They are packed with micronutrients that the body craves.

“The green smoothie… is a tremendous injection of chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and antioxidants into the typical American diet.” ~A. William Menzin, M.D

“Methinks my own soul must be a bright invisible green.”
~Henry David Thoreau