What’s in season in September? A UK produce guide as autumn begins

September is the most interesting month on a British stall, because two seasons are on it at once. The last of the summer tomatoes sit next to the first of the squashes; the tail of the raspberries meets the front of the apples. It is a fortnight-by-fortnight month — what’s there at the start is half gone by the end — so it rewards shopping little and often.

The orchard takes over

This is apple-and-pear country now. English apples come into their proper season, variety after variety, and a Cox or an Egremont Russet eaten in September is a different fruit from the waxed, cold-stored things sold in March. Pears — Conference, Comice — follow close behind. Plums and damsons are in their final weeks; if you see damsons, buy them, because their season is barely a month and they make the best of all autumn jams.

Roots, squashes and greens

The first winter squashes and pumpkins appear, though they keep for months so there’s no rush. Beetroot, carrots and the first parsnips are sweet and abundant. Leeks start, kale returns, and the cabbages firm up. Sweetcorn has its last good weeks — still worth buying close to home, since it’s sweetest within a day of picking.

The hedgerow, free for the picking

September is the great foraging month. Blackberries are everywhere and at their best early in the month; elderberries hang in heavy heads; sloes darken on the blackthorn (leave them for the first frost, or the freezer); and cobnuts and the first sweet chestnuts arrive. A Sunday walk with a tub is the cheapest seasonal shopping there is.

The first of the game

Autumn’s other larder opens now: the partridge season begins on 1 September and venison is at its best. If you’ve never cooked game, September is a gentle way in — we’ve written a plain guide to the season separately.

What to cook

September cooking is about catching things at the turn. Use the last tomatoes for a final batch of sauce to freeze. Bake the apples, or stew them down with a few blackberries for the most seasonal pudding in Britain. Roast the first squash. The month’s whole mood is one of putting a little by before the cold.

Shop it while both seasons last

Glut prices are still with us at the start of the month and producer boxes are heavy — see what growers near you are packing on the boxes page, find them in the directory, or check the full month-by-month picture on our seasonal produce calendar at /resources/uk-seasonal-produce-calendar.