Anyone living in Geneva really should know how to prepare cardoons, since it is Geneva’s favorite winter vegetable. The problem is it is time-consuming and tedious, not to speak of the prickly thistles.

Cardoon gratin is one of Geneva’s favorite Christmas dishes, so now’s the time to learn!

Geneva cardoons.

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MarketView is published every week or so so you can take a look at our list before you go to the market.  It should serve as a tool to help you make your grocery list and menus for the week before you go off to the market.

Summer fruit and vegetables in the Lake Geneva region are all but gone, and autumn and root vegetables are now on the agenda.

Fall fruit and vegetables

Baby carrots, baby turnips, baby beets, radishes of all types. New potatoes of all varieties.

Swiss chard (blettes), Jerusalem artichokes (topinambur), parsnips (panais), celeriac (celery root of knob celery, called céleri rave in French).

Cepe mushrooms (bolets) (delicious this year), field chanterelles (dark brown and gold in color, only available for a very short period in the autumn), black truffles, and a wide variety of other wild mushrooms.

Field chanterelles are only available in the fall.

Wild greens of all types, mesclun (mixed wild salad greens), wild arugula rocket salad, cabbage of all types, kohlrabi (colrave), beets, leeks, pumpkin, squash of all types, cauliflower, broccoli. Herbs of all types.

Most producers make their own mixture of seasonal soup greens and vegetables, which you can just add to a chicken broth.

Grapes (try the hard-to-find framboisé variety, absolutely delicious), apples, pears.

Flowers

In a couple of weeks, chrysanthemums will be the only local flowers available, so take advantage of what’s still available.

MarketView is published every week or so so you can take a look at our list before you go to the market.  It should serve as a tool to help you make your grocery list and menus for the week before you go off to the market.

Amazingly, we are still blessed with a few summer vegetables in the Lake Geneva region, so we still have an interesting mix of spring, summer, and fall fruit and vegetables. As I keep saying, it is surprising what a variety of local fruit and vegetables are still available this late in the growing season.

Spring and summer fruit and vegetables

Aubergine/eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgette/zucchini, green beans, radishes, bell peppers of all colors.

Extra-sweet strawberries, last of the corn, raspberries, blackberries (rarer than the other berries).

Rosemary, many varieties of basil, some mint (end of season), dill, coriander, parsley, laurel, scallions.

Fall fruit and vegetables

Local parsnips from just over the border in France.

Baby carrots, baby turnips, radishes of all types.

New potatoes of all varieties, Swiss chard (blettes), Jerusalem artichokes (topinambur), parsnips (panais).

Local Comice pears.

Grapes (try the hard-to-find framboisé variety, absolutely delicious):

Apples, pears, plums, red peaches (pêches de vigne).

Wild greens of all types, mesclun (mixed wild salad greens).

Cabbage, beets, wild arugula rocket salad.

Herbs of all types, but seeing the last of the mint.

In Switzerland, each producer makes her own mixture of seasonal vegetables for soup.

Most producers make their own mixture of seasonal soup greens and vegetables, which you can just add to a chicken broth.

Cepe mushrooms (bolets).

Black truffles, and a wide variety of other wild mushrooms.

Leeks, pumpkin, squash of all types, cauliflower, broccoli.

Flowers

MarketView is published every week or so so you can take a look at our list before you go to the market.  It should serve as a tool to help you make your grocery list and menus for the week before you go off to the market.

Amazingly, summer just left us a couple of days ago in the Lake Geneva region, so we still have an interesting mix of spring, summer, and fall fruit and vegetables. It is surprising what a variety of local fruit and vegetables are still available this late in the growing season.

Runner beans, squash, pumpkin, raspberries, mint, radishes and assorted herbs in mid-October!

Since we just skipped straight from summer to winter, we are still seeing a large variety of summer vegetables, so I’ve separated the list into categories.

Spring and summer fruit and vegetables

Aubergine/eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgette/zucchini, green beans, radishes, bell peppers of all colors.

Extra-sweet strawberries thanks to the long, hot summer.

Extra-sweet strawberries, corn, raspberries, blackberries (rarer than the other berries).

Rosemary, many varieties of basil, mint, dill, coriander, parsley, laurel, scallions.

Fall fruit and vegetables

Baby carrots, baby turnips, radishes of all types, new potatoes of all varieties, Swiss chard (blettes), Jerusalem artichokes (topinambur), parsnips (panais).

Jerusalem artichokes.

Rhubarb, grapes, apples, pears, plums, red peaches (pêches de vigne).

Wild greens of all types, mesclun (mixed wild salad greens), cabbage, beets, wild arugula rocket salad. Herbs of all types, but seeing the last of the mint.

Cepe mushrooms (bolets), truffles, and a wide variety of other wild mushrooms.

Leeks, pumpkin, squash of all types, cauliflower, broccoli.

Black truffles, or should I say "black gold"?

Flowers

Sunflowers in October in the Lake Geneva region!

October flowers in Lake Geneva region.