Fall: Harvest Time!
Fall is harvest season — the time when farmers gather everything they grew during spring and summer.
Fall fruits:
- Apples: The classic fall fruit! Apple orchards let you pick your own apples. Varieties include Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp.
- Pears: Sweet and buttery, pears ripen in September-October.
- Grapes: Harvest time for grapes (and grape juice and wine). Concord grapes are deep purple and very sweet.
- Cranberries: Tart red berries harvested from flooded bogs. Used in Thanksgiving dishes!
Fall vegetables:
- Pumpkins: The symbol of fall! Used for pie, soup, roasting seeds, and carving for Halloween.
- Sweet potatoes: Orange, sweet, nutritious. Perfect roasted or made into pie.
- Squash: Butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash — hearty and filling.
- Brussels sprouts: Like tiny cabbages! Roasted with a little olive oil, they are surprisingly delicious.
- Cauliflower and broccoli: These cool-weather veggies thrive in fall.
Fall is also when farmers prepare for winter — preserving food by canning, freezing, and drying so they have food during cold months.