What is the fruit/vegetable that makes you feel like, "heck yeah it's fall!"
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@baconandcoconut Just don't try and eat the decorative gourd! Many of them are poisonous
@baconandcoconut I remember a friend casually saying "don't eat mystery squash; if two edible varieties of squash cross-pollinate and grow a mystery squash in your yard, they can poison you" and I was like WHAT that can't be true
AND IT IS
@cwebber @baconandcoconut this is true though it's not as dire as people make it out to be imo. Cucurbitacin tastes bitter, so you can pretty safely taste test the squash first. You have to actually ingest the toxin for it to cause problems https://www.poison.org/articles/toxic-squash-syndrome-if-it-s-bitter-it-s-not-dinner
@ehashman @baconandcoconut it's still a good thing I was informed because I will happily eat a terrible bitter thing for the novelty of it
@cwebber @baconandcoconut How far does a squash have to deviate from the phenotype to qualify as a mystery?
Persimmons are starting to show up! My parents' place had a Hachiya persimmon tree and once I figured out how to let them sit until they're soft (and the starches have turned to various fructose) z0mg, it's Mother Nature's jam without a jar! So good. I am a little less familiar with what to do with the Fuyu cultivars and I know there are others, yet I don't think I've ever encountered a Jiro in a market in California?
Alas, the ever so short lived Pink Pearl apples are now gone (Berkeley Bowl seems to source them for a few weeks and those were a delicious few weeks this year, as in previous years at least).
I've had two pomegranates so far this season, neither was particularly good? I admit, I was spoiled by a Farmer's Market in Santa Cruz (and also San Luis Obispo) vendor which sold juices (raw, no pasteurization; frozen usually) which are INCREDIBLE and take a lot of the mess and fuss while retaining all of the deliciousness. Pasteurized/etc. pomegranate juice doesn't hold a candle and is worth avoiding (similar to pasteurized orange juice, a total waste).
Berkeley Bowl has also started to have Feijoa (my parents' home also had two bushes) or as I learned one of their vernacular names: "pineapple guavas".
Kinda sad that I have to pay for fruits that I used to enjoy in my parents' backyard; yet still tasty and I am grateful that local (at least, in state) and organic sources are finding shelves on the markets.