Revered in France and especially Italy for its slightly bitter and herby flavor, the cardoon has only recently begun to make a name for itself on local menus.

Tocqueville’s Marco Moreira amplifies the delicate sweetness of the Bosc, a variety he likes for its sturdiness when baked or poached, by roasting it with butter and sugar.

Nothing against eating chicken year-round, but locally raised birds like the ones sold fresh at the Flying Pigs Farm Greenmarket stand from Labor Day through November are a special treat.

To anyone bred on Thompson green seedless, the local grape varieties are a revelation: tart and sweet, musky and almost overpoweringly fragrant.

The go-to stir-fried green at any decent Chinese-food feast, pea shoots have a tender texture and fresh, vegetal flavor that echoes the pea itself.

Like the increasingly ubiquitous practice of putting a new restaurant through a lengthy “soft opening” trial run, summer is merely a warm-up for the fig’s splashy fall showing.

Seldom seen in their pods, fresh cannellini beans, available now at Rick Bishop’s Mountain Sweet Berry Farm stand at Union Square, are a rare treat.

Is it just coincidence that the appearance of tart, lemony tomatillos at Greenmarket coincides with the beginning of football season?

True, a perfectly ripe heirloom tomato needs no further embellishment than some extra-virgin olive oil and sea salt. But with the lumpy love apples overflowing their Greenmarket stands a little variety can’t hurt.

Short and squat, with a warty complexion, the Kirby may be the ugly duckling of the cucumber world, but it’s also the best for pickling.