Raspberries are a perennial with 5 petaled cream-colored flowers and irregular toothed leaves. The stems bear soft reddish prickles. You will often find this plant growing along roadsides, in mountain clearings and in woodland openings. It spreads by creeping suckers and prefers sun and a slightly acid soil. The berries ripen successively on the bush during the summer months; therefore it is easy to return to the same area to collect berries for several weeks in a row.

Raspberries are known for their high content of Vitamin C and potassium. The pectin contained in raspberries makes it useful in the “setting up” of jams and jellies. These delectable sweet and sour clusters can be made into syrup with honey to be used on pancakes. Wonderful wines and beers have also been made with raspberries. The pharmaceutical industry has long employed the flavorful raspberry to improve the flavor of less palatable medicines. It is the presence of flavonoids that give the raspberry its rich color. The red raspberry is native to North America and was first cultivated about 400 years ago in Europe.

The delicious sweet and sour flavor of the raspberries make it easy to enjoy the health benefits from these rich red jewels. In Chinese medicine, raspberries are regarded as a tonic for the kidneys and liver. They help to build the blood, hence are good for anemia. Raspberries are cleansing and have been used as a traditional medicine for diarrhea, frequent urination, impotence, high blood pressure, parasites, excess menstrual bleeding and rheumatism. Raspberries are very alkaline and help to improve mucous conditions such as catarrh. Antiviral properties have been discovered in the raspberry.

In the tradition of magic, raspberries have been used to bring love and protection into ones’ life. As a flower essence, used to treat the emotional body, the flower of this fruit is used to impart kindheartedness to those that ingest it.

Seventeenth century Russian traders and trappers introduced rhubarb into Alaska to counteract scurvy. Rhubarb increases saliva production, and gastric juices, including bile. It improves peristalsis, being somewhat laxative. Rhubarb is recommended for bronchitis, constipation, neuritis obesity, and tumors. It is considered cooling and detoxifying to the liver.

Rhubarb is rich in vitamin C, calcium and potassium. In folk medicine, some people brush their teeth with fresh rhubarb juice to protect dental enamel from decay.

Due to the high oxalic acid content, which can inhibit calcium and iron absorption, rhubarb is best avoided by those suffering from arthritis, gout, kidney stones, and rheumatism. Most people should consume rhubarb in moderation, and enjoy it in the spring, when it is in season. Rhubarb leaves are toxic and should never be consumed. Do not confuse garden rhubarb with Chinese rhubarb, which is used as a potent purgative.

Rhubarb is enjoyed in jams, pies, puddings, and sauces and in homemade wines. It is very tart and the addition of apples, honey and raisins make a sweeter treat. It is generally cooked, but I recall my Canadian family would peel the stalks, dip them in a bit of salt and enjoy them raw.

Rutabagas are warming and liver stimulating. Rutabagas have been recommended to treat constipation, improve digestive disorders and to rid the body of intestinal worms. In general, foods in the Mustard Family are all rich in the antioxidant dithiolthiones, sulfur and indoles, all found to have anti-cancer activity. Rutabagas are high in beta-carotene; contain some vitamin C, B complex, calcium, potassium, fiber and carbohydrates.

Look for firm vegetables that are heavy for their size, as lightweight ones are likely to be withered inside. Rutabagas have a yellow hued flesh, grow well in cold climates and last long into the winter. Rutabagas, if commercial are often waxed, so be sure to peel. They can be pureed to make soup, a substitute for mashed potatoes, grated raw into salads or sliced as crudités. October is National Rutabaga month.

Greatly popularized by Popeye the Sailorman, spinach leaves are considered antioxidant, digestive, diuretic, laxative, lymphatic cleansing, nutritive, and tonic. Spinach has been used throughout history to treat acne, alcoholism, anemia, constipation, hemorrhoids, neuritis, obesity, and scurvy. Its high lutein content makes it a food of choice for vision weakness, night blindness, and as protection against macular degeneration. Spinach has traditionally been used to restore energy. It is considered a cancer preventative food, which has a special affinity for the lungs and large intestines. Spinach soothes intestinal inflammation, detoxifies the digestive tract, and promotes peristalsis.

Spinach has a cool, moistening effect on the body. It is rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B6, K, calcium, iron, potassium, sulfur, and chlorophyll. It is higher in protein than most vegetables.

Spinach also contains oxalic acid, which can bind to calcium and inhibit its absorption. Cooking or canning, converts the oxalic acid into an inorganic form which can be deposited in the kidneys and thus create a calcium deficiency, so using spinach raw is considered most healthful. Those that suffer from arthritis, gout and kidney stones are advised to avoid large quantities of spinach.

Look for dark green, unwilted leaves. Spinach grows best in sandy soil, so give it several rinsings before serving, to avoid gritty rocks in your teeth. Spinach makes an excellent addition to soups, dips, stir-fries, quiche, soufflés, and as a filling for crepes. Best of all, is do it raw.

Soursop is considered aphrodisiac and diuretic and has been used to treat hemorrhoids, obesity, heart and kidney ailments and urethritis. In some parts of the world it is used to treat leprosy and liver ailments.

Soursop is rich in almost all vitamins, minerals and protein as well as carbohydrates. It is regarded as a source of calcium, iron and phosphorus. The fruit is removed from the tree when the thin leathery-like skin has turned a yellowish green, but while the fruit itself is still firm to the touch, as if allowed to fall it will break and splatter.

The fruit yields to gentle pressure when ripe, usually after allowing ripening at room temperature a few days. It can be eaten plain or added to fruit salads, sherbets, preserves and juices. The seeds are toxic and should not be consumed.

Strawberries are considered sweet, sour, cool, and moist. Therapeutic properties include blood purifying, astringent, diuretic, liver tonic and healing to wounds. Strawberry is used as a medicinal food to improve anemia, constipation, fevers, hangover, high blood pressure, and jaundice. Because strawberry helps the body eliminate uric acid, it is used for gout, arthritis and rheumatism. As strawberry moistens the lungs, it has been helpful for dry cough, sore throat and tuberculosis. In European folklore, eating strawberries is said to improve memory. Strawberries contain ellagic acid, which is a potent anti-cancer compound. Cut strawberries rubbed over the teeth, whiten them and remove plaque, without damaging enamel.

Strawberries are rich in flavonoids, vitamins B, C, E, and iron.

Everyone knows to enjoy the ripe berries plain, in jams, pies, tarts, on shortcake, yogurt or with cream to name but a few possibilities. Enjoy strawberries for breakfast or dessert. Use them in smoothies and of course to decorate. Dip them in melted chocolate or carob.

Strawberries are one of the most hybridized and highest contaminated produce items, treated with herbicides and pesticides. It is very worthy to buy organic. Berries that are overly large often lack flavor and those with whitish tips are often collected too long before properly ripening. Store them in an open container, removing any spieled berries first. Leave the green caps on while rinsing, to prevent water from entering the berry and diluting the flavor.

Strawberries can be allergenic for some people, especially when they are not vine ripened, causing skin eruptions or indigestion. Eating the fruits may turn one’s urine pink temporarily, but is no cause for alarm.

String beans are considered a spleen, kidney and yin tonic. They have traditionally been used to improve acne, diabetes, diarrhea, leucorrhoea, night sweats, thirst, and frequent urination. They nourish the pancreas and increase the fluids, or yin aspect of the body. They help in eliminating uric acid, and are thus in relieving the inflammation of arthritis and gout.

Snap beans are very alkaline and the green beans more nutritious than the yellow ones. They are neutral in temperature and sweet in flavor. They are rich in beta-carotene, B complex, calcium and potassium.

Good quality beans have a bright color and snap easily when broken. Look for beans with immature seeds. Young beans with enough fuzz to cling to one’s shirt are an indication of tenderness. Large swollen seeds in string beans will foretell a tough bean.

Use string beans in salad, for dipping, to add crispness to other vegetable dishes, soups, as well as in vegetable juices.

A wash made from the tea of young green beans has been used topically to treat acne, cold sores, eczema, and herpes.

Sweet potatoes are alkalinizing, sweet, and warming. They are considered an energy, lung, stomach, spleen, and kidney yin tonic. They increase milk production in nursing mothers and are an excellent food for those that do heavy muscular activity, as they enhance strength. Easy to digest, they are used to treat ulcers and inflamed colon conditions. They have long been used to improve anemia, constipation, diarrhea, dysentery, poor circulation, hemorrhoids high blood pressure, mastitis, and premature ejaculation. Eating sweet, nutritionally dense foods like sweet potatoes can help curb one’s desire for refined sugar.

Sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, vitamins B1, B6, niacin, C, E, as well as calcium, iron, potassium, and carbohydrates. In a Japanese study of twenty-eight fruits and vegetables tested for binding with cholesterol and lowering it, sweet potatoes ranked number one. Eating beta-carotene rich foods can help prevent cataracts and promote healthy night vision. Beta-carotene is also helpful in preventing heart disease, strokes, cancers; especially bladder, lung, breast, cervical, and ovarian Sweet potatoes also contain protease inhibitors, which inhibit the formation of cancer cells according to many studies. They also contain a substance called phytochelatins, which help bind with heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and copper and carry them out of the body. In fold medicine, if a child accidentally swallowed a coin, sweet potatoes would be given to stick to the object and carry it out of its system more easily.

Look for firm, smooth skinned sweet potatoes. The brighter and darker the color, the higher the beta-carotene content. They are thin skinned and can be scrubbed instead of peeled. However, commercial sweet potatoes are often waxed. Store in a cool, dark, dry environment, Bad spots can cause the entire vegetable to taste unpleasant.

They can be enjoyed, sliced raw, grated into salads, pureed, pies, puddings, and soups.

Summer squashes are ideal cooling food for the hot season. They are alkaline, alterative (blood purifying), anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and diuretic. Summer squashes have been used to treat colitis, constipation, hypertension, indigestion, kidney and bladder disorders, obesity, and ulcers. Though less nutrient dense than the harder more orange colored winter squashes, summer squashes contain beta-carotene, folic acid, and vitamin C, calcium, and potassium.

Summer squashes are ideally harvested when considered unripe, fewer than six to nine inches long. Look for squash that is heavy for its size and blemish free. Storing them in plastic bags encourages spoilage. If left to grow, zucchini get as big as a baseball bat, and are about as tasty. The flowers of all summer squashes are edible and can be stuffed with guacamole or other fillings. Scoop out the insides of summer squash and stuff with celery, chopped spinach and nuts. Use slices for dipping or as crudités. Try them sliced or grated into salads, made into pickles or pureed into soups and sauces. Using a tool called a Spirulizer, summer squashes can be shred into noodle like threads and used as low carbohydrate pasta. Various types of summer squashes can be substituted for one another in recipes.

A Polish Study conducted at The National Institute of Health discovered compounds in squash seeds called protease trypsin inhibitors that impede viruses and cancer causing compounds from becoming activated in the intestinal tract. The raw seeds are also used in folk medicine to rid the body of round and tapeworms.

Swiss chard is alkaline, cool, and contains calcium, beta-carotene, vitamin C, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, and iron. Chard also contains oxalic acid and is used only in moderation.