by Megan Stoddard

Created on: September 20, 2010

Fall is the season of harvest. When it comes to vegetables, more are in season in the early to mid fall than at any other time of year. Late fall may see an end to the vegetable harvest if frost and snow have arrived, or may herald the arrival of winter vegetables in climates with milder winters.

Many summer vegetables remain in season through early or mid autumn, or until the first frost, whichever comes first. Tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, and most varieties of bell pepper and hot pepper are among these. Early fall is prime season for chili peppers and tomatillos, a vegetable resembling a small green tomato with a mildly spicy flavor, often used to make salsa. Okra, also a summer vegetable, persists through early or mid fall in many places.

Corn, the varieties that we eat off the cob, often remains in season until the autumnal equinox or shortly after. Winter squash comes in abundantly as corn and other summer vegetables begin to fade out of season. The earliest winter squashes arrive in the weeks immediately before the autumnal equinox, with their season lasting into the winter if winter is mild, or until mid autumn in climates where winter is harsh and comes early.

Since winter squash is easy to preserve without refrigeration - it will keep for months if not cut into - it is one of few vegetables that could be eaten fresh in the wintertime before modern times, hence its name. However, winter squash is in season mainly in the fall. Pumpkins, which most of us in North America associate with the month of October, are the best known winter squash. There are many other varieties, too, including butternut squash, acorn squash, delicata, and godiva squashes.

Spaghetti squash, one of the earliest varieties to come into season, has stringy insides that may be used as a replacement for spaghetti. All other winter squashes have similar textures and flavors to each other and can be used interchangeably in recipes.

Cooling fall temperatures bring a resurgence of cool weather vegetables, which are also in season in the spring and go out of season in the summer if temperatures are consistently over 80° F (27° C). Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, beets, chard, spinach, cabbage, and many more root and leafy green vegetables are in season in the fall. Artichokes, which grow in Mediterranean climates (they do especially well in Italy and California) are at their peak for brief windows in the fall and spring. Radishes and carrots often flourish in the fall.

Yams and

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