For expecting & new mothers

The 9 nutrients pregnancy depletes — and the garden that grows them back.

The planting happens before the baby arrives. Your postpartum garden is already growing when you need it most.

A pregnant woman cradling her belly in a sunlit wildflower field

The nine

The minerals + vitamins pregnancy depletes most aggressively.

Iron

Why: Blood volume nearly doubles. Iron stores drop fast.

Grow: Beet greens, spinach, parsley, dandelion, lentils.

Supplement: Grass-fed liver — among the most absorbable heme-iron foods there is.

Folate

Why: Critical for neural tube development; depleted aggressively in T1 and T2.

Grow: Leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, avocado, beets.

Supplement: Grass-fed liver — one of the densest whole-food folate sources.

Vitamin B12

Why: Crucial for nervous system; deficiency common postpartum.

Grow: Pair with regen-grown animal foods; nutritional yeast on greens.

Supplement: Grass-fed liver — exceptionally rich in B12.

Omega-3 (DHA)

Why: Brain and eye development for baby, mood + recovery for mother.

Grow: Flax, chia, walnuts; pair with regen-grown pastured eggs.

Zinc

Why: Immune function, tissue healing, mood regulation in postpartum.

Grow: Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin, oysters.

Supplement: Grass-fed liver — a strong whole-food source of zinc.

Magnesium

Why: Muscle function, sleep, anxiety regulation — postpartum essential.

Grow: Leafy greens, almonds, cacao, avocado, swiss chard.

Choline

Why: Brain development, lactation support. Most prenatal vitamins under-dose.

Grow: Pastured eggs, broccoli, cauliflower, soy-free beans.

Supplement: Grass-fed liver — the single richest source of choline.

Vitamin D

Why: Hormonal regulation, calcium absorption, mood. Sunlight + food sources.

Grow: Egg yolks, mushrooms grown in sun, or sunshine itself.

Iodine

Why: Thyroid health for both mother and baby; deficiency is common.

Grow: Pastured eggs, sea vegetables (dulse, kelp).

Inside the planner

Tell it what you're dealing with. It picks the crops.

The nine above are the frame. The planner tracks eighteen nutrients in all, and it starts from you: your stage, whether you're breastfeeding, and the symptoms you've noticed.

Step one · symptoms

What you've noticed.

Tick any that fit. Each one pre-ticks the nutrients it is commonly associated with, drawn from NIH, the Linus Pauling Institute, Real Food for Pregnancy and Mother Food — and the plan explains the link in a “What you told us” block you can show your midwife or OB.

Nausea / morning sicknesspregnancyVitamin B6, magnesium
Fatigue / exhaustionIron, B12, folate, protein
Leg or muscle crampsMagnesium, calcium, potassium
ConstipationMagnesium (then fibre and water)
Low mood / anxietyDHA, omega-3, vitamin D, folate, B12, magnesium
Trouble sleepingMagnesium, calcium
Light-headednessIron
Hair sheddingpostpartumIron, zinc, protein
Slow healing after birthpostpartumProtein, glycine, vitamin C, zinc
Low milk supplypostpartumNursing, water and calories first; then the support plants

Commonly associated with, never diagnosed. Symptoms have other causes; the plan says so, and red-flag symptoms get your provider's number, not a nutrient.

Breastfeeding · yes or no

Both answers get a real plan.

Yes adds a milk-supply section — the support plants, how each is used, and the cautions, from LactMed and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine — and the plan's serving figures are measured against lactation targets. No still treats you as replenishing, not as an ordinary adult: pregnancy and birth draw down your stores, so the figures keep pregnancy targets as the benchmark.

Step two · focus nutrients

Eighteen you can lean on.

From the garden

Iron
Folate
Choline
Magnesium
Zinc
Vitamin C
Vitamin K
Calcium
Potassium
Protein
Omega-3 (plant ALA)
Vitamin A
Vitamin B6

Mostly from animal foods, or beyond the garden

Iodine
Vitamin B12
Vitamin D
DHA (animal omega-3)
Glycine

Every crop in the plan says which of these it carries and, where the USDA food table knows the harvest, how much of your daily target one serving covers. What the garden can't grow gets honest sourcing notes instead of a gap.

Trimester-by-trimester

What to plant when — so the harvest hits when you need it.

Weeks 1–13

Trimester 1

Plant: Cool-season greens, peas, beets, radishes

Harvest for: Mid-pregnancy — for the period when food aversions ease and you can build stores

Weeks 14–27

Trimester 2

Plant: Heat-tolerant fruits (tomato, peppers, squash), herbs, sweet potatoes

Harvest for: Late pregnancy + first weeks postpartum — for energy-dense recovery meals

Weeks 28–40

Trimester 3

Plant: Cover crops + cold-storage roots (carrots, beets, garlic, onions)

Harvest for: Postpartum month 2–6 — when daily cooking is hardest and you want food just sitting in the pantry

A mother gazing at her swaddled newborn in soft window light, black and white

Who built this

Built by a mother who's lived it.

My wife built the Prenatal Garden Planner out of her own postpartum journey — the depletion that nobody warned her about, the recovery that nobody mapped for her, and the months of trial-and-error figuring out which foods actually moved the needle. It's the tool she wishes she'd had years ago, rebuilt as something every expecting mother can use from day one.

Note: this is educational, not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for personalized guidance.

Build your prenatal plan in the app.

The full planner — your zone, your due date or birth date, your symptoms and the nutrients you choose, with a planting chart, a calendar you can export, and a printable plan — is the Prenatal / Postpartum option inside Garden Planner, part of the GSS Steward tier (7-day free trial). Founding testers have it now.

Open Garden Planner →