what's in season in los angeles in september?

September is the month the Los Angeles farmers market quietly changes its mind.

The tables still look like summer at first glance. Tomatoes, peppers and melons are all present and accounted for. But look closer and the shift is already underway: the first pomegranates are showing up, dates are arriving from the Coachella Valley, and stands are firing up chile roasters for the season's most anticipated few weeks.

Summer isn't over. It's just sharing the table now.

Here is what you are likely to find at Los Angeles farmers markets this September, along with what is especially worth bringing home.

Market Mama brings that seasonal farmers market experience home with produce boxes, farm boxes and fruit boxes delivered throughout Los Angeles.

september produce at a glance

fruit

• Grapes
• Pomegranates
• Dates
• Figs
• Late-season peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots
• Apples
• Asian pears
• European pears
• Melons
• Avocados
• Valencia oranges
• Lemons and limes
• Persimmons, depending on the farm

vegetables

• Tomatoes
• Peppers, sweet and hot
• Olives, for curing
• Eggplant
• Tomatillos
• Sweet corn, tapering
• Cucumbers
• Summer squash
• Winter squash, early varieties
• Sweet potatoes
• Green beans
• Okra
• Carrots
• Beets
• Onions
• Garlic
• Potatoes
• Lettuce and leafy greens

fresh herbs

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Parsley
• Dill
• Mint
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Rosemary
• Sage

Availability changes from week to week. Heat, rainfall, location and the varieties grown by each farmer can move a harvest earlier or later.

That unpredictability is part of shopping from actual farms.

olives begin their harvest

September marks the start of California's olive harvest, and it's one of the season's quieter arrivals.

Inland growing regions typically begin picking in September, with the harvest continuing into November depending on the variety and how the fruit is being used. A raw olive straight off the tree is bitter and inedible, which surprises people who've never seen the process. It has to be cured, in brine, salt or oil, before it becomes the olive you'd actually want to eat.

If a farmer is selling curing olives, ask what method they use and how long the process takes. It's a good reminder that not everything at the market is meant to be eaten that night.

pomegranates are just getting started

September marks the beginning of California pomegranate season, and the first fruit tends to show up looking almost too glossy to be real.

Choose pomegranates that feel heavy for their size, with skin that looks taut rather than wrinkled or soft. Weight matters more than color here.

Score the skin in quarters, break it apart in a bowl of water, and the seeds will separate from the pith on their own. Scatter them over salads, yogurt, roasted vegetables or eat them by the spoonful, which is really the only correct way to eat a pomegranate alone in the kitchen.

dates are having their moment

Fresh dates are one of September's most local specialties, arriving from growers in the Coachella Valley.

Depending on the variety, you may find soft, caramel-colored Barhi dates or the firmer, more familiar Medjool. A good fresh date should feel sticky-soft rather than dry, with skin that clings closely to the fruit.

Eat them plain, stuff them with cheese, blend them into smoothies, or chop them into a salad for the kind of sweetness that doesn't need apologizing for.

figs are entering their final stretch

Fig season is not over in September, but it is winding down, and that is exactly the reason to buy them now rather than wait.

A ripe fig should feel soft without leaking and smell lightly sweet. Depending on the farm, you may still find green, amber or deep purple varieties, though the selection will likely be smaller than it was in August.

Eat them with yogurt, tear them into salads, or serve them with cheese and a drizzle of honey. Once local fig season ends, it tends to end for good until next summer.

Our Local Figs follow whichever variety looks best that week, which by September may mean catching the very last of the harvest.

grapes reach their peak

California table grapes are arguably at their best in September, with farms offering everything from crisp green varieties to deeply colored, almost floral reds and blacks.

Look for firm grapes attached securely to flexible green stems. A light dusty coating on the skin is natural and protective, not a sign of anything wrong.

Keep them cold, eat them straight from the fridge, freeze a bag for the next heat wave, or roast a bunch until they collapse into something that belongs on a cheese board.

tomatoes are winding down, not gone

September tomatoes are often some of the best of the year, even as the season quietly starts to close.

Late-summer heat concentrates flavor, and farmers are often working through the final, most intensely ripened fruit of their tomato plantings. Heirlooms may become less consistent in shape and size as the season winds down, which usually has nothing to do with flavor.

Keep them on the counter, not the fridge, and use them quickly. Tomato toast, a simple salad with good olive oil, or sliced onto a plate with salt is still the right amount of effort.

stone fruit says its goodbyes

Peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots are finishing their run in September, and the farmers who still have them are often working through late varieties bred specifically to extend the season.

Choose fruit by fragrance and feel rather than color. A ripe peach should smell like a peach before it's cut open.

This is the moment to use anything you have been meaning to use. Slice it into salads, cook it down with lemon into a quick compote, or freeze it for smoothies once it's fully ripe. Next year's stone fruit season is a long way off.

peppers, eggplant and tomatillos keep going

While tomatoes and stone fruit taper, peppers, eggplant and tomatillos are still very much in their element.

Eggplant continues to arrive in glossy purple, lavender and striped varieties. Peppers range from sweet to seriously hot. Tomatillos fill out their papery husks, ready for salsa verde and braises.

Roast the eggplant until it collapses. Char the peppers until the skins blister. Blend roasted tomatillos with onion, cilantro and lime for a salsa that's better than anything jarred.

winter squash and sweet potatoes preview what's next

The first hints of fall produce start appearing in September, even while summer crops are still on the table.

Early winter squash varieties and sweet potatoes may begin showing up at some stands, offering a preview of the next few months. They will not be the main event yet, but their presence is a sign of where the market is heading.

Roast them simply with olive oil and salt to start. There will be plenty of time for more ambitious preparations once they arrive in force.

what is leaving the market?

September is a month of overlap, but overlap doesn't last forever.

Peaches, nectarines, plums and pluots are finishing. Corn is tapering. Some fig varieties may already be gone by the end of the month, depending on the farm.

This does not mean everything disappears on September 1 or October 1. Farms operate according to growing conditions, not calendar notifications.

When a grower tells you it's the last week for something, believe them and act accordingly.

what is available nearly year-round in los angeles?

Southern California does not follow the same seasonal calendar as colder parts of the country.

Depending on the growing region and current conditions, Los Angeles markets may continue offering avocados, citrus, carrots, beets, lettuces, leafy greens, herbs and other familiar staples through much of the year.

Year-round availability does not mean those foods taste identical every month. Varieties change, farms change growing regions, and there is still a season within the season.

what we would bring home in september

Were we building a September farmers-market haul purely around what tastes best right now, we would start with:

• A few of the first pomegranates
• Fresh dates
• A jar of curing olives, for the patient
• The last good peaches or plums we find
• A bunch of grapes
• Tomatoes, while they're still here
• Eggplant or tomatillos for salsa
• A generous bunch of basil, before it fades
• The first small winter squash we spot

That's enough to cover breakfast, salsa night, quick dinners, and the kind of snacking that quietly disappears off the counter.

let the market decide

A seasonal shopping list is a guide, not a contract.

The best thing at a Los Angeles farmers market in September may be the pomegranate you weren't expecting yet, a bag of chiles still warm from the roaster, or a fig a farmer hands you because it's the last good one of the year.

Pay attention to what's abundant. Ask what was picked most recently. Ask what the farmer is eating at home.

That is usually where the good stuff is.

Market Mama sources from Southern California farmers and growers based on what is fresh, beautiful and worth bringing home that week.

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