NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — It’s October and harvest time is here - time to bring in a number of fall crops.

After our hot, dry summer, several area folks planted fall gardens. They’re doing better now with the cooler weather and increased rainfall.

My Swiss chard is flourishing and has provided several tasty meals. Fat radishes, both red and white, have appeared at the farmers’ market, and fall peppers are doing especially well. I bought a few Saturday and made stuffed peppers for Sunday dinner. The market is also featuring lovely butternut, pattypan and yellow squash and plump pumpkins line the grocery store aisles.

Temperatures dipped to near freezing and we even had a little sleet the first Saturday of the month, so I’ve moved all my potted plants into the house and the cellar. A bright red impatiens adds a cheery note at the south end of the living room. Jim rigged up tarps to cover the tomato beds for a couple of nights, so maybe we’ll get a few more ripe ones before the first killing frost. There are still several green ones on the vines. The strawberry plants, under the overhang of the shop, appear unharmed by the cold and are still producing a little fruit.

Sister Nancy has been making the most of the harvest from the garden she and husband Marlin planted. I visited her last Friday and she gave me jars of her green tomatopickles and pickled banana peppers. Trays of red Spanish peanuts were drying in the kitchen, and she’s canned and frozen lots of homegrown veggies. She brought me a few sweet potatoes recently and last weekend shared some of her green tomatoes, which I’ll fry for supper soon.

An October day is a fine time for a walk. Friends from Sulphur Springs joined me for lunch at the senior center last Thursday and, after our meal, we went out to walk the wildlife observation trail. The day was sunny, but there was a crisp note in the air. We got some needed exercise and enjoyed the beautiful leaves that are coloring up a little more the last week or so. Maples are especially pretty and sumac in our fence row are putting on quite a show.

Columnist Jo Northrop, in a piece she titled “Winesaps, Woodsmoke and Woodcocks,” also related the pleasures of taking autumn walks. “This time of year,” she wrote, “even the lowliest weeds contribute to the patchwork of natural color. Broom sedge and goldenrod share fields and roadsides and make a handsome blend of amber, yellow and gold. The woods are brilliant, and there’s a happy rattle of leaves underfoot. Even the old Labs seem to enjoy trotting through swirls of fallen leaves.”

Our paper’s advertising manager brought us some pears from her tree recently. They were delicious, juicy and sweet and didn’t last long. I bought some more at the farmers’ market Saturday and look forward to enjoying them soon. I found an old Country Living article, “All About Pears,” and read up on goodies like pear and cheddar pie, pear-butter bread, pear tarts and pearcranberry cobbler. Sounds tempting, but I’ll probably just eat them out of hand. Can’t beat biting in and having that tasty juice dribble down your chin!

Despite the rain Friday morning, the “Pickin’ Time on 59” yard sale seems to have gone well last weekend. Nancy and I stopped at a yard sale Friday afternoon. She picked up a bundle of cookbooks and a canning jar, and I purchased a few books, some gift items and a decorative Roy Rogers lunchbox. I found a cute Mexican figurine with a big sombrero and a Southwestern style candleholder at the farmers’ market Saturday and stopped at another sale on the way home. There I found a lovely picture frame and some scrapbook supplies. It was fun hunting out the bargains.

Heartier meals are in order now that cooler weather whets our appetites. I enjoyed a delicious ham loaf, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes and zucchini at the senior center last week. Then Friday evening, Jim and I went out to a get-together where we were treated to an Oktoberfest menu including pork fritters, bratwurst with whole-wheat mustard and cabbageapple slaw. This Friday is the Lions homecoming game, and we look forward to dining on the tasty burgers at the concession stand.

Susan Holland, who works for the Westside Eagle Observer, is a lifelong resident of Benton County.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 10/17/2012