How To Eat Locally And Seasonally In Spring?
Want to start eating seasonally this spring? Discover how to nourish your body in the season of renewal with the best produce to refresh your body after winter.
After a long winter, spring arrives as a season of renewal. Nature slowly stirs from its slumber, and so are our bodies. Even though snow may linger until April in places up north like here in Canada, the shift in energy is palpable as early as March. The sap begins to rise, sunlight stretches further into the evenings, and the first hints of green peek through melted sports under the snow. Little by little, life awakens, inviting us to do the same.
Just as the natural world transitions, so too does our body, with unique needs that shift alongside the seasons. Spring is a time to realign with nature’s rhythm by refreshing, our diet. In this article, we’ll explore how to support your body’s renewal during this season, how to embrace fresh, locally-sourced foods, and a curated list of the fruits and vegetables available in spring.
Before diving in, I highly recommend reading my previous article on the subject, where I share the fundamentals of eating seasonally and locally, as well as resources on where to source your local and seasonal food. It will give you a deeper understanding of how to reconnect with nature through food all year round. Now, let’s step into the magic of spring together.
Understanding Our Body’s Needs In Spring
The need for refreshing and gently wake up
After months of indulging in comforting, hearty meals, our bodies naturally begin to crave freshness. However, in northern regions like Canada, this transition to warmer temperatures comes much later in the spring, as winter weather lingers well into April. So, during this colder part of spring, it’s important to continue nourishing our bodies with warming dishes until the weather begins to soften.
As the season progresses to warmer temperatures, the arrival of crisp lettuces and vibrant greens signals the perfect moment to refresh and rehydrate, much like a gentle spring rain. This is the time to gradually introduce more raw vegetables and salads, while also opting for slightly lighter meals. Unlike in winter, when the body relies on rich, warming foods for insulation, spring encourages a shift toward lightness, helping us feel energized and prepared for the return of warmer days.
The need to support our natural “detox” process
After months of eating rich, starchy and mostly preserved food, our bodies, just like our homes, crave a good spring-cleaning. As the seasons shift, so do our internal rhythms, and many people feel the urge to reset and lighten their diet.
In recent decades, detox programs have grown in popularity, but they shouldn’t be taken lightly. The plants and remedies used in detoxes can be incredibly potent and may not be suitable for everyone. Before considering a detox, it’s essential to support your body’s natural cleansing pathways, also known as emunctories. These vital organs, including the liver, kidneys, skin, and lungs, work tirelessly to eliminate toxins and keep our system in balance.
If properly nourished and cared for, the body is perfectly capable of detoxing itself naturally, without any intervention. However, in some cases, a temporary detox cure may be beneficial, or even necessary. In such cases, it is encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified healthcare practitioner, such as a certified naturopath or a holistic nutritionist, who will be able to customize the type of detox and dosage best suited to your unique needs.
That said, spring is the perfect season for a gentle cleansing of the body. The best way to do this is to take advantage of the foods available at this time of year and incorporate them into our diet.
Supporting the Body’s Natural Detox Through Diet
Step 1: Start With The Gut
The first emunctory to support during the natural detox process are the intestines. This vital organ manages the elimination of solid waste, ensuring that toxins don’t accumulate. However, if the gut microbiome is imbalanced or digestion is sluggish, fermentation and putrefaction can occur, leading to an overload of toxins in the body.
To support a healthy gut and encourage gentle detoxification, incorporating the right foods into your diet is key:
Fiber-Rich Foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, flaxseeds, whole grains, etc.
Prebiotic Foods are what nourish the beneficial bacteria (probiotics) in your gut. Many spring vegetables naturally provide prebiotics, including artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, garlic, leeks, onions, etc.
Probiotic Foods introduce beneficial bacteria that help restore gut balance. Instead of jumping straight to probiotic supplements, consider adding naturally fermented foods to your diet, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, other lactofermented vegetables, kefir, miso, yogurt, and kombucha.
Chlorophyll-Rich Foods are found in fresh leafy greens, wheatgrass, and tender spring lettuces.
By nourishing your gut with these seasonal, whole foods, you support your body to cleanse itself naturally. If you choose to supplement in spite of already having those foods in your diet, you can opt for a high quality symbiotic (combining prebiotics and probiotics in one capsule). And also take liquid chlorophyll supplement that you can dilute in a glass of water (some are mint-flavoured, while more concentrated forms have a strong grassy taste).
Step 2: Support The Kidneys
The second emunctory to support during the natural detox process are the kidneys. They are responsible for filtering waste from bodily fluids. To keep them functioning optimally, it’s essential to nourish them with the right foods:
Water – Hydration is key to kidney health. Think of it like flushing a toilet, without enough water, waste can’t be properly eliminated. Drinking plenty of high-quality water helps support the kidneys’ natural filtration process.
Electrolyte and Mineral-Rich Foods – Found in lettuce, seaweed, and birch sap, these help maintain kidney function. Birch sap, traditionally consumed in early spring as a short-term cleanse, is particularly beneficial.
Apiaceae Family Vegetables – Spring brings an abundance of parsley, celery, carrots, and fennel.
Dandelion – A quintessential spring plant, dandelion leaves can be added to salads, while its roots make a wonderful infusion with natural diuretic properties.
By incorporating these nourishing foods, you help your kidneys do their job efficiently, during this season's shift.
Step 3: Support The Liver
The liver is often mistakenly thought to be the first organ we need to detox, but its cleansing system is far more complex than most people realize. For effective detoxification, the liver requires very specific conditions: a wide range of nutrients, a significant amount of energy, the right temperature, etc. The liver is a super-multitasker, taking charge of many different vital roles in our system, more than just detoxing our bodies.
Therefore, forcing its detox with a stimulating cure without making sure it has enough energy to deal with it can exhaust it. Plus, if the liver is overstimulated with a detox cure, it will release a flood of toxins into the body, which will then need to be eliminated through other emonctories: namely the intestines and kidneys. If those two pathways aren’t fully optimal yet, the toxins ejected from the liver detox will remain trapped in the system, ultimately doing more harm than good. This is why preparing the gut and kidneys beforehand is essential.
The best thing to do in spring is not to do a liver detox, but to support our liver. By incorporating these seasonal foods, you will gently support your liver to do its job efficiently without tiring it out:
Cruciferous Vegetables like radishes (pink, black, daikon), turnips and their greens, cabbage, and cauliflower.
Bitter Foods such as watercress, artichokes, dandelion leaves, and asparagus.
Allium Vegetables like spring onions and fresh garlic.
Antioxidant-Rich Foods such as beets, red cabbage, herbs, spices, and rosehip flower (also called dog-rose).
How to Eat Seasonally in Spring?
As mentioned earlier, spring is a transitional season, bridging the cold of winter and the warmth of summer. At times, it can feel like one foot is still in winter while the other steps into summer, with temperature shifts happening rapidly or gradually, depending on where you live.
If you live in a more northern climate like me, March and April still resemble winter in terms of seasonal eating. With too few fresh produce available, root vegetables remain a staple. You can continue incorporating them into your meals while waiting for the first spring harvests.
Later in the spring, fresh greens return in abundance, along with springtime favourites like radishes and asparagus. As temperatures rise, it’s the perfect time to introduce more salads alongside warm meals. Your plate gradually becomes more vibrant with fresh produce and slightly lower in fats and carbs, compared to winter.
Additionally, as mentioned earlier, if you incorporate probiotic-rich foods and prioritize fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients, your body will be better equipped to support its natural detoxification processes.
What foods are in season in spring?
Depending on your location, typical spring produce may be abundant earlier in the season than northern places. Which is why, greenhouse-grown produce can offer locally grown options (like summer vegetables), that would not be considered seasonal in spring, but are still local. Since spring is a transitional season, I’ve also included root vegetables and preserved summer foods, which remain staples from winter eating.
Non-exhaustive list of spring vegetables:
Asparagus
Beet
Carrot
Celeriac
Cultivated herbs (greenhouse or indoor potted)
Dried herbs
Endive
Fiddlehead
French shallot
Garlic
Green cabbage
Greenhouse cucumber
Greenhouse greens
Greenhouse pepper
Greenhouse tomato
Iceberg lettuce
Leek
Mushrooms
Parsnip
Potato
Radish
Red cabbage
Red onion
Rutabaga
Savoy cabbage
Spinach
Spring lettuce
Sprouts
Summer vegetables (frozen)
Summer vegetables (preserved: lacto-fermented, sauerkraut, relish)
Sweet potato
Topinambur (Jerusalem artichoke)
Turnip
White cauliflower
Yellow onion
Winter squash
Non-exhaustive list of spring fruits:
Apple
Pear
Rhubarb
Summer fruits (dried)
Summer fruits (frozen)
Summer fruits (preserved: jams, compotes, etc.)
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By embracing seasonal produce, whether fresh, greenhouse-grown, or preserved, we support both our well-being and the natural cycle of the seasons. Eating in tune with spring allows us to gently cleanse, nourish, and prepare for the warmth ahead, all while savouring the vibrant flavours this time of year has to offer.
With infinite love and gratitude,
-Anne 🧚♀️
*** What are your favourite spring vegetables? Have you learned something new about detox? Ho you feel inspired in the kitchen in the spring time? ***