A Piece of My Mind - June
What I’m blending, harvesting, and learning this season
Welcome to the Michelle Seguin MD newsletter! I’m Dr. Michelle, and I’m so glad you’re here. Our community continues to grow, and I’m grateful to share this space with you. In this week’s issue, I’m recapping our recent smoothie challenge, sharing a peek into the garden, and a powerful new study on gardening and health. You’ll also find our July cookbook club pick…it’s a classic.
Hello friends,
After a cool, wet start to the month, I’m finally writing to you on a warm and sunny Saturday morning as we close out June together. I’m sitting at our picnic table with a cup of coffee in hand, birds singing at the feeder nearby, and the smell of freshly cut grass still hanging in the air. It is surely summer now.
I hope you enjoy this glimpse into our world, and I’d love to learn what’s going on in yours. Feel free to leave a comment below or send me a message if you prefer. Hearing from you is one of my favorite parts of writing and building this community.
With gratitude,
Dr. Michelle
A Piece of My Mind
Welcome to this space, where I share quick updates on what I’m learning, doing, and loving as we close out each month together. As the newsletter has evolved, this section has become a reader favorite and a playful nod to the beloved JAMA series, which explores the joys, challenges, and hidden truths of practicing medicine. While inspired by those stories, my version leans into the lighter side, celebrating the small, meaningful moments and practices that shape our everyday lives.
What I’m Drinking:
Smoothies, and lots of them. We just wrapped up our Root community smoothie challenge, and it was such fun to see what everyone was blending up. Some days were simple, like a classic green smoothie with banana and spinach. Other days felt more adventurous. We tried a chocolate cherry smoothie that tasted like dessert, and a bright, refreshing pineapple cilantro version with fresh ginger.
My favorite was the strawberry beet smoothie. The color alone was reason enough to smile, but I also loved how earthy and sweet it tasted. I discovered a few new ways to boost fiber too, like tossing in frozen zucchini or frozen cauliflower rice. Both blended beautifully and added creaminess without altering the flavor much. I’ll keep this in mind for when the garden zucchini surplus arrives.
I'll share a few snapshots below. If you're part of the Root community, come take a peek at the full thread. So many great ideas came out of this one.
1. Classic Green Smoothie in the woods 2. Strawberry Beet smoothie in the garden. 3. Pineapple Cilantro smoothie along the Portage Canal
P.S. This smoothie from
also caught my eye. The combinations and inspiration are truly endless.
What I’m Making:
It’s scape season in the garden. If you’ve never heard of a garlic scape, you’re not alone. These curly green shoots are the flowering stalks of hardneck garlic, and we harvest them in early summer to encourage the bulbs to grow larger. Their flavor is milder than garlic cloves, with a hint of sweetness and a tender texture that’s perfect for all kinds of summer cooking.
We harvested ours this weekend, and I’ve been dreaming up ways to use them ever since. Scapes make a beautiful pesto, but they’re also great tossed on the grill, folded into eggs, or quick-pickled to enjoy later.
If you don’t grow garlic, keep an eye out at your local farmers market. Scape season is short, and they tend to disappear fast.
What I’m Learning:
I came across an exciting new study recently, published in JAMA Network Open, that explored how gardening can improve health outcomes for cancer survivors. The study, led by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), found that participants who took part in a vegetable gardening intervention experienced an increase in fruit and vegetable intake, higher levels of physical activity, improved mobility, and even beneficial changes in the gut microbiome. It’s a beautiful reminder of what so many of us feel intuitively: tending a garden can support healing on many levels.
I first learned about the study through a piece in The Food Section, a newsletter by award-winning food writer, Hannah Raskin, that shares thoughtful food and drink stories from across the American South. If you enjoy reading about the intersection of food, culture, and place, it’s a great one to follow.
You can read the full article from UAB here. As a doctor-gardener, I love seeing gardening show up in the medical literature, and I hope we continue to see more studies like this in the years to come.
What I’m Loving:
Now that the days are warming up, I’ve been living in my Free Fly gear. The skort has become a summer staple, carrying me through garden mornings, trail walks, and even impromptu beach days. The company is family-owned and based in Charleston, and I really appreciate their mission and materials. The fabric is breathable, soft, and designed to move with you.
What I’m Listening To:
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the latest Kitchen Conversation, I’d invite you to tune in. This month, I had the joy of welcoming
, founder of the , as my very first guest. We talked about her journey from OB-GYN to culinary educator, and how her work has evolved to include not just what’s on the plate, but the deeper connections between food, culture, and community.This audio series is still new territory for me, but I’m really enjoying the creative process. It’s become a way to explore food and care through a different lens, one that feels a little more personal and expansive. The response to this conversation has been so heartening, and I’m looking forward to sharing a few more guest interviews in the months ahead.
I hope you enjoy listening, and as always, I invite you to grow along with me.
Next month’s cookbook club pick is a modern classic. It completely changed the way I think about vegetables and how I approach seasonal cooking. It’s one of my all-time top 3 favorite cookbooks.
Here’s what we’ll be cooking from in July…
July 2025
Cookbook: Six Seasons - A New Way with Vegetables by Joshua McFadden & Martha Holmberg
Six Seasons is a true celebration of what the garden and farmers market have to offer. It’s organized by what McFadden calls the “six seasons” of produce: spring, early summer, midsummer, late summer, fall, and winter. The book invites us to notice the subtle shifts in flavor, texture, and abundance throughout the growing season and to cook in a way that honors those transitions.
The recipes are bold, creative, and deeply vegetable-forward. It’s the perfect companion for this time of year, when the garden is bursting and inspiration is everywhere. Whether you’re looking to level up your salads, roast summer squash in a new way, or try your hand at quick pickles, there’s something here for everyone.
I can’t wait to cook from this one with you!
Is “Six Seasons” already on your shelf, or will this be your first time exploring it? I’d love to hear what you’re planning to make or what vegetables you’re most excited to cook with right now. Let me know in the comments.
From the garden to the blender to the bookshelf, I’m grateful to share this season of growth and creativity with you. July feels full of possibility, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll make of it together.
With love and care,
Dr. Michelle
Physician, Gardener, Home Cook, and Forever Curious
P.S. If something here resonated, I’d be honored if you gave it a like or shared it with a friend. This space continues to grow into a community rooted in seasonal rhythms, good food, and thoughtful connection.
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