Autumn is one of the best times of year for variety, because so many things are in season at once and they're cheap.
Squash, lots of it
Squashes are different plants depending on the species, and the shops have several in autumn:
- Butternut
- Acorn
- Delicata
- Kabocha
- Spaghetti squash
- Pumpkin
All of these are in the Eating30 database, and they light up the orange and yellow group on the Eat the Rainbow card.
Other autumn plants
- Fruit: apples, pears, plums, blackberries, figs, quince, cranberries
- Roots: beetroot, parsnip, celeriac, swede, turnip
- Greens: kale, cavolo nero, Brussels sprouts as the season goes on
- Nuts: chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts
- Mushrooms: chanterelle, porcini and the cultivated exotics, which show up more in shops this time of year
A week that's mostly autumn
Porridge with stewed apple and blackberries. Squash soup with sage. A tray bake of beetroot, parsnip and red onion. Roasted chestnuts on a Sunday walk. A pear and walnut salad. That's a dozen plants that weren't in your summer week.
If you're logging in Eating30, it's worth a look at the Eat the Rainbow card in late autumn. Purple and red often drop off as summer berries go, and beetroot, red cabbage and plums are the easy way to bring them back.
Eating30 is an app for iPhone and Android that counts the different plants you eat each week, with 30 as the target. The core tracking is free. It's a habit tracker, not medical advice.
Count your plants with Eating30
Tap the plants you eat and watch your week fill up towards 30.