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April is time to bring in the fall crops in the Southern Hemisphere. A few fruits such as apples, pears, and grapes are still on the trees and vines in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, and Uruguay. Many apples are harvested in April. The last of the warm season fruits and vegetables should be

Beets have a sweet, earthy taste. They can be eaten raw or cooked. If you bake or roast beets in their skins, you can enjoy that flavor at its most intense. How to Choose Beets Select beets that are firm with smooth skins and are heavy for their size. Avoid beets that are soft, flabby

Carrots can be served raw or cooked. The key to serving the best tasting carrots is to serve carrots that are not too small and not too large and to serve them as soon after harvest as possible. You can eat carrots raw whole or in sticks or grated in a salad. Carrots can be

Steamed turnip greens with beans Turnip greens can be steamed, sautéed, boiled, and prepared much like spinach. The tenderest of turnip greens are those harvested before the swollen root we call a turnip ever develops. Young greens will have the least bite. Grow turnip greens for harvest in the cool time of the year, in early

Belgian endive leaves with hummus, chickpeas, and black olives Belgian endive is commonly served raw added to winter salads or braised and served with a white sauce. Belgian endive can also be steamed, parboiled, and prepared in a gratin. The closely wrapped creamy white leaves of Belgian endive form a firm elongated, spear-shaped heart. The

Delicious salad with endive, halloumi cheese, and nectarines Curly endive and escarole are both chicories of the same species. These two slightly bitter-tasting leafy greens can be eaten raw in winter or spring salads or added to soups where their tastes become mild. Curly endive has narrow, finely cut, curly leaves. Escarole has smooth, rounded

Early spring has arrived in the Sonoma Valley and Northern California. The first taste of spring wherever you live is asparagus. When the first shoots of asparagus appear, you can be assured the ground has thawed and the temperatures are going up, even if every so slightly. This is the third week that asparagus has

Napa cabbage and carrots Napa cabbage or wong bok is a sweet-tasting hearted-type of Chinese cabbage. It is barrel-shaped, with tightly-wrapped leaves and a dense heart. Napa cabbage can be steamed, boiled, quickly stir-fried, or eaten raw. Napa cabbage has a light, sweet taste and is tender. It is the best storing of Chinese cabbages

Michihili cabbage salad with corn and chives Michihili is a semi-heading, upright, cylindrical-shaped Chinese cabbage. Michihili is delicate, crisp and lightly sweet. It is often used in cooking as a vehicle for the flavors of other foods. There are other semi-heading Chinese cabbages. Each of these is wrapped with long leaves that form a tapering