Time to really stock up on local fruits and vegetables…..this coming market will be the last of our regular Thursday gigs. Still to come, our two holiday markets. We return November 22, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and Saturday December 3, the day before the Christmas parade. (Check The Falmouth Enterprise and www.falmouthfarmersmarket.org for details closer to the time.)

Buy Fresh Buy Local (www.buyfreshbuylocalcapecod.org) is organizing a Harvest Celebration on October 23, with tours and tastings across the Cape (And October 24 is Food Day! If you haven’t yet heard about Food Day, go to http://foodday.org) Meanwhile, you can start getting into Harvest festival mode this Thursday by buying a pumpkin or colorful squash, apples, chestnuts, a Halloween owl from Sirenetta chocolatier, and exclusive Falmouth organic cranberries. You can also order a noble fir tree, wreath or decorative swag for the holidays--all in a good cause, to benefit Falmouth 4H youth programs including those at Coonamessett Farm (tree pick-up at Barnstable County Fairgrounds on December 2, 1-8pm. 508- 375-6696 for details.)

Thursday also marks the end of this year’s Main Street recycling program. FCAT (Falmouth Climate Action Team) will ceremoniously drop some last bottles into the recycling bin at Peg Noonan Park.

Here’s what we think will turn up for this momentous week:
  • Apples, pears, crisp Asian pears, sweet tomatillos (and sour ones for salsa.) Cape cranberries, including organic cranberries from Falmouth, and local chestnuts.
  • Tomatoes, green tomatoes, cucumbers, purple and white eggplants, late-season corn, bell peppers, and chillies.
  • Lettuces and salad greens, pea tendrils, and arugula.
  • Green beans, snow peas (maybe even sugar-snaps!)  broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, chard and kale. Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes), red and white potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, leeks, fennel, radishes, turnips, celeriac, red and white onions, and garlic. Pumpkins and autumnal squashes, such as butternut, buttercup, Blue Hubbard, acorn and stripey delicata.
  • Cheeses: Great Hill Blue, Long Lane Farm’s delicate goat cheese, Shy Brothers’ Hannahbells and Cloumage.  Fromage à Trois hand-made mozzarella, burrata, and string cheese (but only for the first half of the market.) With luck, aged asiago and creamy fromage blanc from Foxboro Cheese.
  • Local eggs, vegetable pickles and preserves; Singe-Sations zingy jalapeno topping. Smoked meats and fish, we hope. Same goes for frozen cuts of grass-fed beef, ground beef, and sausages.
  • Basil, mint, parsley, sage, and organic potted herbs, including rosemary, a great table-topper. Organic coriander seeds. Mini-bouquets of flowers. (No more mums for sale. But some of Christine’s mums now grace the park, brightening it up for the fall.)
  • Baked goods, including Rein’s Real Rye; Pain D’Avignon baguettes, boules, and croissants; The Artisan Bake Shop’s breads, quiches, mini pizzas and seasonal apple pies; loaves and apple cider doughnuts from the Great Cape folks.
  • Honey and preserves. Sirenetta’s new Harvest chocolate collection, salty caramels, Halloween chocolate owls, and--- for those chilly nights---tasteful tubes of Velvet Drinking Chocolate. Brewed coffee and custom-roasted coffee beans from Down to the Ground, plus Westport wines to taste and to purchase.
Congratulations are in order. Fromage à Trois will soon be opening its very own store on route 149 in Barnstable. Keep checking their Facebook page and www.fromageatroiscapecod.com

Buy some extra butternut squash this week. They're versatile, keep well and if you go to the Recipes tab, you'll find instructions to make a delicious and easy butternut squash and apple soup.