Figured I'd try to bring some activity to the site:

Summer is such a great time for fresh fruits and vegetables from farmer's markets, grocery stores, roadside stands, and even our own backyards. Now that fall is upon us, and in a few months it will be winter, how do you keep up your intake of fruits and veggies? Do you can or freeze them throughout summer for winter? Are you lucky enough to live in a warm climate where you can get great produce year-round?

I just got back from the farmers' market. Only a few weeks left. I bought kale -for kale chips, a napa cabbage -for salad and maybe egg rolls, some scallions, some oyster and shitake mushrooms--either for pasta or a mushroom paste concoction to use as a filling, some green beans and zuchinni. I also got a big bag of cooking apples. More applesauce and an apple crisp are in my future.

My favorite winter thing is roasted veggies. Carrots, parsnips and sweet potatos tossed in a little olive oil, salt, pepper and some herbs. I could eat that all winter long. Sometimes I add onions and garlic to the mix. Sometimes I add regular potatos.

I am not a fan of canned veggies other than tomatoes which mostly go in cooked dishes. And I am not terribly fond of frozen veggies other than corn. But some of those steamfresh one's aren't too bad. I will toss those into pot pie or shepherds pie.

I generally stick to root veggies and broccoli and try to make a salad every night. And I will admit to buying trucked in veggies from lands far away.

Fruitwise, I do like canned fruit and frozen fruit. I eat a lot more smoothies in the winter than in the summer, which seems a bit crazy. But I would rather have the fruit fresh when it is in season. And there is nothing like a good berry smoothie in the middle of winter when the fresh berries taste nothing like a real berry. I have been freezing strawberries and raspberries all summer.

We eat a lot of apples, oranges, grapefruits and bananas in the winter, along with some dried fruit.

All in all, it's not much different than the summer as far as intake, it's just different things. I am trying to learn to like different squashes and other winter storing vegetables. I still haven't conquered eggplant or turnips. Beets are growing on me. I tried a butternut squash recipe that wasn't too bad the other night. I still don't love it, but I am trying.

Our roadside stands and farmer's markets are just beginning to open...our summer stuff is like everyone else's winter stuff: trucked in and not local. I'm looking forward to some yummy tomatoes, citrus fruit, and some FRESH green beans! I wasn't here for the spring crop this year, and I think it's been six or seven months since I was able to make something super-fresh.

No matter what time of year it is, there's always frozen fruit and vegetables in the freezer. I'd like to always have the fresh stuff, but if it's been 6 days since I went to the grocery store...microwaved, frozen broccoli for a side dish isn't something I'll be embarrassed about. I like having frozen cherries and peach slides...milk and the cherries make (to me) a tasty, tasty shake/smoothie thing. And I'll puree the peach slices with honey and cinnamon for a not-quite-sorbet dessert. The freezer always has broccoli and green beans, and I try to keep snow peas in there, too. The pantry has beans of many colors, and canned tomatoes.

We eat frozen veggies (Steamfresh & that other one that is similar) in the winter.
Hope to start making a smoothie at breakfast (using frozen fruit) this winter.

I do fewer salads in the winter. I tend to eat more soups that I loads with veggies. I also like more baked stuff like sweet potatos and casseroles that are also veggie heavy.

I eat more berries in the winter than I do in the summer. (I buy the IQF berries.)

I look at fruit and veggie intake as non-negotiable. I just gotta do it.

I enjoy the change in season because I switch up my food. I think I would be bored eating the same way all year.