Pick of the crop: experience 25 of Europe’s most celebrated harvests

1. Apples and pears, UK

The image of orchards laden with fruit in late summer is central to our idea of the British countryside, and our association with apples and pears goes back millennia. When the Romans came to Britain, they’d have encountered tiny, sour wild apples and the endemic wild pear. Fortunately, they brought with them sweeter, bigger, cultivated versions of both fruits.

Apple production continued after the fall of the Roman Empire, with the Normans bringing new varieties to these shores and Henry VIII establishing his own orchards in Kent, but it was the Victorians who really ramped things up, growing almost 2,000 varieties.

The UK’s National Fruit Collection today contains 2,131 varieties of apple and 523 of pear, yet 80% of the UK’s small orchards have been lost since 1900 and we import over 400,000 tonnes of apples a year — about 60% of what we consume. Isaac Newton found inspiration after being hit by a lovely, but almost forgotten variety, the Flower of Kent — but you won’t find it in our supermarkets, which sell a narrow selection, with Royal Gala taking just over

a quarter of market share, followed by Pink Lady — an apple traditionally imported that’s now being grown in Kent, with the first homegrown crop going on sale earlier this year. With pears, we eat an even narrower selection, mainly Conference. That said, you’ll find more options in a good greengrocer or veg box.

As for how we consume them, they’re still mostly snacked on in their unadulterated state, although apples remain popular in desserts like pies, crumbles, apple cake (especially in the South West) and apple charlotte (a bread and fruit pudding), while pears are eaten with cheese, in chutney and poached. Both fruits are also drunk — the UK is the world’s largest cider market (it’s what half our apples are grown for). Perry, or pear cider, production is on a smaller scale, the most famous example being Babycham.

Both are in season from August to November, and if picking your own, take note: a ripe apple should come from the tree with a gentle twist. If you need to tug, or if the pips are green, it’s not ripe; pears should be picked just before they’re ripe and given a week to sweeten up.

You’ll find apples and cider on the bill at most autumnal food festivals in the UK, although dedicated pomologists should look out for Big Apple events, which run in spring and autumn on picturesque Marcle Ridge in Herefordshire. Visitors are shipped between blossom- or fruit-filled orchards in a trailer hitched to a tractor. In addition, the UK’s national Apple Day is traditionally 21 October, with dozens of local events held on and around the day. Pears are harder to find, but Brogdale Farm, in Kent, is open for orchard days and pick-your-own in September and October.

2. Garlic, UK

Garlic is a relative newcomer to the British food scene — it was only from the 1950s onwards that it became common in UK kitchens. Yet recent research suggests Brits eat an average of half a clove a day. It was introduced to the Isle of Wight by French soldiers during the Second World War, with the island’s soil and climate suiting it perfectly. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the island’s Garlic Festival garlicfestival.co.uk. Held every August, it features music, performance art, a fun fair, chefs’ stage and the famous garlic marquee. The event is run in conjunction with the neighbouring Garlic Farm, which sells everything from garlic pickle to seed garlic, and hosts garlicky events year-round.

3. Watercress, UK

Although watercress has been cultivated across the UK for centuries, these days it’s mainly grown in Hampshire and Dorset. Here, gravel-lined watercress beds are fed by rivers and streams running with sparklingly clear, mineral-rich water, which has been filtered through the region’s chalky bedrock. It grows throughout spring and summer and can be harvested just a few weeks after sowing — and it’s also produced in back garden and on windowsills across the land, where it does well as long it’s damp.

To get a taste for yourself, visit Alresford Watercress Festival, which takes place every May in the pretty market town near Winchester. The day starts with the Watercress King and Queen’s parade, followed by live music and dance, cookery demos, watercress awards and even a watercress-eating championship. Look out for the plant on menus across the country, and if you want to get the most out of it in the kitchen, try chilled watercress soup or watercress pesto.

4. Forced rhubarb, UK

As any enthusiast will tell you, the very best forced early rhubarb comes from a tiny patch of land, just nine square miles, known as the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle, which has nitrogen-rich soil and just enough of a chill in the air to mimic the conditions of rhubarb’s native Siberia. After starting life outside, rhubarb plants are brought into lightless forcing sheds, where vivid pink stems grow sweet, narrow and straight before being harvested by candlelight.

If you see a bundle of hot-pink stalks in a greengrocers just after Christmas, grab them fast, as the season is fairly short and demand is always high. Alternatively, for a guaranteed taste of the good stuff, visit Wakefield’s Rhubarb Festival, which takes place every February within the Yorkshire Triangle. There you can try classics such as rhubarb fools and crumbles, as well as plenty of less obvious options, such as rhubarb gin or even rhubarb cocktails.

5. Asparagus, UK

Asparagus has been cultivated in the UK since the 16th century. Traditionally, the British asparagus season begins on St George’s Day (23 April) and ends on Midsummer’s Day (21 June). And it’s a notoriously tricky crop — for the first two years, you can’t harvest it at all, in the third it must be picked by hand, and then it only crops for a couple of years, which is why it’s quite expensive. In spring and early summer, you’ll find it on menus across the country, but true believers should head for the Vale of Evesham, where the asparagus has been given Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, for the annual Asparagus Festival britishasparagusfestival.co.uk. Expect morris dancing troupes, accordion players, knights in armour, classic cars and country dancing — plus you’ll meet Gus the Asparagus Man (green-faced and in asparagus costume).

6. Summer soft fruits, UK

Nothing says British summertime like strawberries and cream, particularly if you’re lucky enough to be at Wimbledon. Wild strawberries are indigenous to much of Europe and the Americas, although the plump strawberries we know now weren’t bred until the 1700s. However, they’re not our only native soft fruit — we also have currants, blackberries and raspberries, as well as many non-natives. Fife, on the eastern coast of Scotland, is one of the best places in the country for soft fruits and has a vibrant Slow Food community. The region is dotted with pick-your-owns (try Pittormie or Cairnie farms). If you stay at Lindores agritourism farm, you can book into a personalised food tour of Fife and meet local strawberry and raspberry producers – and more importantly, you can also taste their wares.

7. Elderflower, UK

Throughout late spring and early summer, elderflower grows everywhere in the UK, as happily in busy town centres as in remote woodlands. For those keen on collecting their own for cordial making, the wild food expert and writer Mark Diacono has this advice: “Pick on a sunny day, which lifts its perfume. It’s a scent as much as a flavour and you don’t want to wash it away. You want all the pollen so pick carefully and transfer to a bag. And it’s better to not to pick right by a main road.” He also suggests making a cold water infusion, rather than using boiling water to pull out the flavour. “It takes longer, but you get none of that back note of cat’s wee that hot water can give...” If you love the idea of picking elderflower, but don’t want to make your own syrup or champagne, Belvoir – makers of the famous cordial – invite members of the public to sell them their pickings every summer.

8. Bonnotte potatoes, France

How did La Bonnotte become the world’s most expensive variety of potato? The story represents quite a reversal of fortunes. Unlike other varieties, which grow from the seed potato then separate in the soil, La Bonnotte stay connected by a stalk, meaning they must be hand-picked. On the Ile de Noirmoutier – an island off France’s west coast, where they’re grown — their production was abandoned in the 1960s, as mechanisation ramped up. But in 1995, to mark the 25^th anniversary of the island’s agriculture co-operative, the bonnotte was brought back, and a 3kg basket was sent to the Drouot auction house in Paris, where it sold for 15,000 francs (£1,500 at the time).

Their value lies in their scarcity: only 100 tons are produced each year. And, as they’re only available for around five weeks, their arrival is heralded by a big festival in early May. Visitors and locals can join in the harvest at dedicated farms, follow the bike trail around the island – characterised by its salt marshes and white-washed villages – and then sit down to join a big feast in which two tons are cooked and served to 2000 visitors with sardines and local Vendée wine.

9. Chestnuts, France

If you want to enjoy Autumn in France, one of the best places is Collobrières, a small town in Provence’s Var department, that’s rather more rustic than Saint Tropez, which is just hour away. Set in the forests of the Massif des Maures, the town is famous for its chestnuts, and for three weekends in October, during the Fête de la Chataîgne, the locals go mad for them, roasting huge spades of chestnuts over roaring braziers; tossing them in the air as they cook, while other stalls sell everything from crème de marron and chestnut liqueur, to chestnut flour and the cakes made with it. Each of the restaurants sets its tables out on the street under the golden leaves of the plane trees, and everyone tucks into the local stew, quaffed down with local wine or a kir chataîgne – chestnut liqueur topped up with champagne. You can also visit the marron glacé (caramelised chestnuts) factory in the centre of town, before eating its signature chestnut ice cream – studded with pieces of fudgy marron glacés.

10. Plougastel strawberries, France

The town of Plougastel-Daoulas, in northwest Brittany, France, has sea merchant Amédée-François Frézier to thank for its strawberries. Frézier brought them back from Chile in 1714 — from there on, Brittany’s microclimate worked its magic and enabled the crop to thrive. Over the centuries, several varieties have been developed, the best known being the ultra-sweet gariguette. Visitors can get up to speed at the museum in the centre of town, which is dedicated to the fruit’s history, while the region’s chefs incorporate them into their menus in myriad ways from April to June.

You can buy strawberries direct from producers such as Ty Neol, just outside town; while in mid-June the annual Fête des Fraises sees the locals don traditional costumes and perform Breton dancing. Expect tastings, a parade and a big meal to finish it all off. And if you can’t make it there in June, there’s always strawberry liqueur — order it in cocktails at any time of year for that sweet, strawberry hit.

11. Roscoff onions, France

The port town of Roscoff, in Brittany, is known for its subtly flavoured pink onions, which were sold door-to-door throughout Britain in the 19th and early 20th century. It’s a custom that gave rise to the nickname ‘Onion Johnnies’ — the distinctively attired salesmen providing Britain with an enduring, striped shirt-wearing, beret-clad, onion-necklaced stereotype for Frenchmen in general.

Each August, the onion harvest is welcomed with a fantastic celebration on the seafront. The Fête de l’Oignon de Roscoff involves traditional Breton music and dancing and a parade through the town by the remaining ‘Onion Johnnies’ and the brotherhoods of the onion and other local products. Visitors can join in with the harvest at one of the local farms and there are also competitions to see how fast people can weave a string of onions together. And don’t miss the local speciality, the galette-saucisse (a sausage wrapped in a buckwheat galette), which comes with a spoonful of caramelised onions.

12. Menton lemons, France

In the far southeast corner of France, between Monaco and the Italian border on the Cote D’Azur, the town of Menton enjoys a microclimate that makes it perfect for growing citrus fruit, and in particular its own kind of lemon. The Menton lemon has a thicker pith and lacks the bitterness of typical lemons, making it ideal for caramelising and using in tarts and jams, as well as many other products sold in the town’s enticing stores.

Every February, Menton comes alive with the 15-day Fête du Citron, when huge sculptures made almost entirely from oranges and lemons are erected across the town. Past years have seen a citrus Taj Mahal, a dragon and a giant violin. As well as trips to the town’s own lemon grove, you can visit producers and Menton’s many botanic gardens. There are also carnivals, in which incredible floats made from oranges and lemons parade through town, alongside musicians and dancers from around the world.

13. Cavaillon melons, France

If sunshine is the essential ingredient in Provence’s best produce, then you can certainly taste it in the Cavaillon melon. This variety of the charentais, with its sweet, orange flesh and striped, green skin, has grown near the town of Cavaillon since the Middle Ages, and its festival, La Féria du Melon, in early July, heralds the start of the season. The town, which was established by the Romans, hosts tastings and banquets over a weekend, alongside tours of the producers’ farms, exhibitions, competitions and a carnival. The task of judging the taste, density and appearance of the honeyed fruit falls to the Brotherhood of Knights of the Order of the Cavaillon Melon, a very singular type of guild. The festival culminates in a unique event where 100 Camargue horses are set free to run around the town.

14. Olives, Southern Europe

Great swathes of Europe have, in one way or another, been shaped by the olive. From Portugal in the west to the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, cultivation of the fruit continues to have a major impact on everything from local economies to the arts, medicine and folklore.

Spain is Europe’s biggest producer. Vast farms carpet Andalucia, while the International Olive Council is headquartered in Madrid. For diversity, Italy is the leader, both in olive varieties — it produces more than 600 types — and the range of microclimates they grow in. The nation’s olive trees are deeply rooted in its physical and psychological identity, standing stoic for centuries over terroir that takes in pre-Alpine lakes, Mediterranean shores and mountains. Likewise, olive cultivation is at the heart of Greek culture, both ancient and modern. After all, it’s where, legend has it, the goddess Athena offered an olive tree to Athenians as a symbol of wisdom and peace. Today, the country consumes more olive oil per person than any other.

In Europe, olive harvests take place between September and December. A rule of thumb: the further south you travel the later the harvest will be. Wherever you go, it will be an all-hands-on-deck event. Speed and skill are of the essence when getting the fruit from tree to press before it oxidises, and while select farms offer visitors the chance to get properly involved, numerous villas, agriturismo properties and resorts offer special tours, tastings, events and festivals during harvest season.

Chase the sun south to Sicily, where harvest season starts in October. At Fattoria Mosè, an organic farm and agriturismo near Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples, guests can experience the harvest hands-on, and take part in tastings and cooking classes and experience menus focused on seasonal dishes. Owner Simonetta Agnello Hornby and her sister Chiara are authors of Un Filo D’Olio (‘A Little Bit of Oil’), a recipe book centred on olive-focused regional dishes.

In Greece, head south west to the Peloponnese peninsula. Here, around the southern coastal city of Kalamáta, where the eponymous olive is king, farm stays often encourage guests to get involved in the November harvest. Lately, the vast Costa Navarino resort has also got in on the act, offering various ‘olive experiences’, which include olive oil tastings, where guests follow the olives’ journey from tree to bottle. Visitors to any of the resort’s hotels can also take part in the olive harvest, where they’ll learn about local varieties and visit an olive press. There are also cookery courses and olive-focused spa treatments.

15. White asparagus, Italy

A herald of spring, white asparagus is softer, sweeter and pricier than its green counterpart. Edible from stem to tip, it’s grown with labour-intensive attention: hidden under carefully replenished mounds of soil, it’s deprived of sunlight so it doesn’t photosynthesise, rendering the tender spears a ghostly pale white when they’re unearthed between April and June. It’s traditionally served as a standalone dish, steamed or gently boiled in an emulsion of water, butter, lemon juice and salt, with the slightly less tender bases made into a velvety soup or a puree to accompany a meaty main.

Although grown in abundance in Germany and Austria, Italy’s northern border regions are this vegetable’s heartland; an area along the Brenta River in the Vicenza province, with sandy, lightly calcareous soil, is Italy’s designated white asparagus zone, with numerous dedicated festivals in and around the town of Bassano del Grappa. The spears are also often served on 13 June, the feast day of Saint Anthony, who was said to have introduced white asparagus to Veneto. 

16. Hazelnuts, Italy

Although most associated with the northern region of Piedmont, nocciole (hazelnuts) are produced across Italy, from the Nocciola di Giffoni in Campania, and Tonda Gentile Romana in Lazio to Siciliana o Nostrale in Sicily. Used in an array of sweets and desserts, the hazelnut is a national favourite gelato flavour, appears in Baci and Gianduja chocolates and, of course, is used in Nutella and the numerous regionally made alternatives. But you’ll also find the nuts in pesto and ground into flour for both sweet and savoury dishes, including pasta.

The Langhe area, in Piedmont, is Italy’s main hazelnut hub, with several festivals dedicated to the noble nocciola, including a huge international fair held in the town of Cortemilia. Held every August, this celebration usually coincides with the end of the season, bringing growers together from across Italy and beyond to celebrate the nut in a myriad of forms. Cascina Giardini, an agriturismo set in a renovated farmstead just outside Alba, is surrounded by hazelnut woodland and orchards, and has a restaurant specialising in Piedmontese dishes, local Langhe wines and homemade products. Try hazelnut spread on rustic bread for breakfast, and some of Italy’s best truffles (this region is home to the tartufo bianco d’Alba).

17. Pumpkins, Italy

Grown from April to August, zucca (pumpkin) can be found in shops, restaurants and stalls throughout autumn. A symbol of harvest season, they’re edible in their entirety, from the flowers and leaves to seeds and pulp, and feature in pastas, jams, cakes and more. The most prized can be found in the city of Mantua, in Lombardy’s fertile south east, and the Veneto region — these include the green marina di chioggia and the peaked cappello del prete (‘priest’s hat’), with orange flesh. In Mantua, try tortelli di zucca alla mantovana, ravioli di zucca or pumpkin soup. And there are several festivals, including Zucca Folk, in Pastrengo, east of Lake Garda (1-5 September 2022), and the Festa della Zucca in Venzone, a medieval-walled town in northeast Italy (22-23 October).

18. Radicchio, Italy

Radicchio rosso di Treviso is only grown in a designated area, between the provinces of Treviso, Padua and Venice, and must be farmed using traditional techniques, including ‘bleaching’ in the water of the Sile River. Harvest season starts at autumn’s first frost, with the harvested vegetables kept in the dark at a constant temperature for several weeks before they can be sold at markets, shops and restaurants across Italy, their elegantly coiled leaves resplendent in purple and white.

The leafy veg is so popular there’s a Radicchio Road — a collection of trails across the Veneto region, taking in producers, restaurants and even Palladian villas on historic agricultural estates. If you’re yet to be converted to the joys of this bitter leaf, try it grilled or baked to bring out sweetness, dressed with a balsamic reduction — or in a risotto flavoured with prosecco, another dish from Veneto. It’s a speciality at Locanda Sandi, a rustic-chic inn in Valdobbiadene.

19. Figs, Greece

Figs have been a staple of the Greek diet since ancient times: mythology has it that Demeter, goddess of the harvest, created the fig tree. A symbol of peace, fertility and virility, this potassium- and fibre-packed fruit has long been prized for its medicinal properties (it’s claimed it aids everything from a sore throat to heart disease). Greece is one of the world’s main producers, and August is ‘fig month’, when the fruit is at its most plump and juicy, growing wild on hillsides. It’s then that the town of Polilofos, in the Messinia region of the Peloponnese, honours the fig tree with a huge dedicated feast. At other times of year, look out for dried varieties such as the honey-coloured, delicate skinned Taxiarchis — grown on the island of Evia — along with fig products such as sykomaida, which is dried figs and wine must, flavoured with aniseed, pepper and ouzo and wrapped in fig leaves.

20. Almonds, Spain

The Andalucian almond harvest begins around September, with many producers still using traditional methods such as shaking the nuts from the trees into nets, and cracking them by hand. Spain is Europe’s largest almond producer, with the most prized variety being the plump, oval marcon. Others to look out for are the more slender, crunchy largueta, and the late-blooming guara. While visitors can enjoy the nuts as they come, they also feature in some of the country’s oldest dishes, from turrón (nougat) to a baked almond cake from the Santiago de Compostela region, decorated with the St James cross. In the town of Ronda, you’ll find almonds on tapas menus and in markets; stay at La Cazalla de Ronda, a rental villa on an Andalucian farm, where almonds are harvested by hand.

21. Pine nuts, Portugal

Portugal is one of Europe’s biggest producers of pine nuts, grown largely in the Alentejo – a region of south and central Portugal where forests of stone pine, cork and holm oak provide rootling ground for the Alentejo black pig, from which presunto ham is produced. Cones from the hardy Pinus pinea (stone pine) produce ‘white gold’ nuts, harvested from December to March in an intricate, time-consuming process, often done by hand.

The creamy, pearl-white pine fruits are said to get their rich flavour from the Atlantic breezes that buffet Alentejo forests, and are used in sweet and savoury foods, from caramel brittle to migas, a dish combining breadcrumbs and garlic, as well as pine nuts, and often the addition of vegetables. Stay at one of the region’s pousadas, hotels set in old convents, monasteries and palaces often serving seasonal, regional cuisine, including Hotel Dom Afonso II, set in a medieval Moorish castle in Alcacer do Sal, an hour’s drive south of Lisbon.

22. Kale, Germany

German curly kale is not the stuff of smoothies and salads: thick-stemmed and hardy, it’s traditionally harvested after the first autumn frost to ensure much of its bitterness has disappeared. Most of the country’s kale is grown in the north west, where it’s stewed with lard and onions and eaten with potatoes, sausages and pork belly or cured, smoked pork chops. Throughout kale season (November to January), locals organise ‘kale trips’, hiking through kale country with a handcart full of booze and the end goal of holing up in a pub feasting on stewed kale with all the trimmings. To create your own rather gentler kale trip, take a loop around the gardens of Bremen’s Bürgerpark and end with a plate of kale and sausages at Meierei, a restaurant housed in a 19th-century former dairy.

23. Grapes, Germany

The Romans introduced viticulture to Germany around 2,000 years ago. Today, approximately 100 grape varieties are planted across the country’s 13 wine regions. In terms of production, the ratio of white to red is approximately 70:30, the commercially important grape varieties being riesling, müller-thurgau, pinot noir and dornfelder. And for anyone keen to try it, the Palatinate wine region is a great starting point. It’s home to the 52-mile German Wine Route, which is navigable by foot, bike, car or public transport. It takes visitors past palaces and castles and through forests and vineyards, while offering countless opportunities to attend wine festivals and culinary vineyard walks, join cellar tours and tastings, or simply enjoy the excellent food and wine offered everywhere from seasonal winery pop-ups to Michelin-starred restaurants.

24. Potatoes, Germany

When the potato was first brought to Germany from South America in the 16th century, it was introduced to wealthy Germans as an ornamental plant.  It was then used as animal fodder before eventually being deemed fit for humans. Today, potatoes are the only German crop that traditionally exceeds national consumption: in 2021, 11.3million tonnes of 550 different varieties of potato were harvested from German soil.

From May to October, follow the Potato Hiking Trail in Lewitz, a protected landscape 70 miles east of Hamburg, and learn all about the treasured tuber from the information boards en route. Visit at the end of the harvest season to join in the festivities at Lewitz’s potato festival, which takes place in October. Local restaurants serve up special potato dishes and traditional specialties such as mash with buttermilk and bacon, and the month-long celebrations culminate in a festival involving a market, music, dance and art.

25. Buckwheat, Germany

Thought to have made its way to Germany from Central Asia in the 13th century, buckwheat (a grass related to sorrel, knotweed, and rhubarb) was one of the most important sources of food for rural German populations until the 18th century, when potato crops took hold. It’s enjoyed a recent resurgence in popularity, though, thanks perhaps to its moreish, nutty flavour, richness in nutrients, and the fact it’s gluten free.

Generally ripening between August and mid-September, buckwheat is best enjoyed at Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony, where you can enjoy local specialties made with the grain, such as pancakes with seasonal berries (ideally served with tea and followed by a local schnapps), and buckwheat cake made of layers of sponge, cranberry jam and whipped cream. At the restaurant of the organic farm Hof Tütsberg, also in Lower Saxony, there’s the opportunity to try creations including buckwheat risotto, spätzle (egg noodles), and even a buckwheat burger bun (complete with beef patty).

Published in Issue 17 (autumn 2022) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK) 

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