Shop around before autumn leaves

Quick Links: Fruit
Vegetables
Meat and fish
Other seasons and reasons

Fruit

• The Ker Plunk of apples falling to the ground signals that Keats' season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is now upon us. Cox's Orange Pippin, Worcesters and those lovely Russet apples we have recently rediscovered are the easiest to buy. Oh, and don't forget the Bramleys.
• Down south the free blackberries have almost gone but there might still be some on the bushes elsewhere (sloes for flavouring gin are another possible freebie). You will need to move quickly to bag the last of the red or purple plums. Pears are busily going pear-shaped: Conference and Comice are the main commercial varieties, though you might strike it lucky and find Packham's.
• Pomegranates, figs and ruby-red Italian grapes are the best imports, and here's a quick, quirky hurrah for prunes – the start of the new season!

Vegetables

• Pumpkins are replacing courgettes, large main-crop potatoes (Desirée, Maris Piper) supplant the fine-skinned salady spuds, corn on the cob is big and cheap and mushrooms and chilli peppers are doing better than herbs. Along with those quintessential autumn ingredients there are also signs of winter such as kale, Savoy cabbage, and even Brussels sprouts.

Meat and fish

• One fishy reference book says conger eel is now in season – don't all rush! On a scale of one to 10 this is a nine+ month with brill, Dover sole, halibut, hake, herring, plaice, sea bass, sea bream, skate, squid, sprats and turbot available. There are also clams, crab, lobster, mussels, oysters, prawns, scallops and brown (Morecambe Bay) shrimps for those of a shellfish disposition.

• Pheasant, best priced of all the game birds, is now is season and Delia has the recipes to cook it tenderly. We also have recipes for partridge and wood pigeon on the site.

Other seasons and reasons

• Nuts now appearing in a hedge or greengrocers near you include Kent cob nuts, ordinary hazels, walnuts from southwest France and some early chestnuts. This is the prime time for making chutneys and preserving the likes of pears and green tomatoes.

• Of course there is not really an open season for sausages, but autumn used to be the time for preserving pork to see us through the winter – and making fresh sausages with the less-valuable meat. Oddly enough, even today bangers feature in every good party from Halloween to New Year.