But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on.     

Robert Finch

Early Autumn at MCB & MAF

• Apples are one of those fruits people have forgotten have a season.
• Artichokes produce a second, smaller crop in the fall that tends to produce small to medium artichokes.
• Beets are in season in temperate climates fall through spring.
• Broccoli rabe, rapini is a more bitter, leafier vegetable than its cousin, broccoli, but likes cool growing conditions.
• Brussels sprouts grow on a stalk, and if you see them for sale that way snap them up - they'll last quite a bit longer!
• Cabbage is bright and crisp, and the cooler the weather when it's harvested, the sweeter it tends to taste (this effect is called "frost kissed").
• Carrot varieties are harvested during its natural season, which is late summer and fall.
• Cauliflower is by nature a cool weather crop and at its best in fall and winter.
• Celeriac/celery root is at its best in the cooler months.
• Chard is best harvested in late summer or early fall in colder areas, and fall through spring in warmer regions.
  
• Curly Endive (Frisée) is a chicory, at its best in fall and winter
• Eggplant (early fall) comes into season towards the end of summer, but bright shiny heavy-feeling specimens stay in the season well into fall.
  
• Fennel's natural season is from fall through early spring.
• Green beans tend to be sweetest and most tender during their natural season, from mid-summer into fall in most regions.
• Jerusalem Artichokes/Sunchokes are brown nubs that look like small pieces of ginger.
  
• Parsnips look like white carrots and have a great nutty flavor.
  
• Quinces are a most under-appreciated fruit. Bright and tart, quince jellies and desserts are a fall favorite.
• Radicchio, like all chicories, is sweeter and less bitter when the weather is cool.
• Rutabagas are also known as "yellow turnips" and "Swedes." They are a sweet, nutty root vegetables perfect in stews, roasted, or mashed with plenty of butter.
  
• Shelling beans beans that become dried beans are briefly available fresh in mid-summer to early fall depending on climate.
  
• Stone Fruits such as plums, nectarines and apricots are some of Hadley's favorites to serve up!
  
• Turnips have a sharp, bright, sweet flavor. Shop for turnips that feel heavy for their size.
• Squash of all sorts comes into season in early fall.