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PELHAM, N.Y. Friday was the first official day of fall and as the seasons change, so do the fruits and vegetables that populate local markets.Richie Bell owns the oldest store in town, the Pelham Produce Market on Fifth Avenue. The 80-year-old lifetime Pelham resident has experienced decades' worth of seasonal fruits and vegetable changes and knows the benefits that fall brings."In the fall, you get busy," Bell said. "All the stores (do). Fall's a good time of year."Bell has already begun preparations for the fall season by displaying and selling some of the produce that will fill the crates outside his store in the coming months.Pears, pumpkins and corn are among the items that come into season around this time of the year. Seven different varieties of apple, including Fuji, McIntosh and Golden Delicious, also become popular in the fall.Concord grapes, butternut and acorn squash, potatoes and onions also come into season in autumn. Plums and peaches fall out of season in early fall, according to Bell, but tomatoes will last until about mid-October.Of all the seasonal produce, Bell said pumpkins sell out the most quickly because of a well-known date on the calendar."You've got to sell them by Halloween," Bell said.Bell grows his produce at his family farm in Kinderhook, N.Y. and sells it at the store that has been in his family for more than 80 years.
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