Just because the colder weather is upon us doesn't mean your meals have to suffer. There's a huge richness and diversity of choices in the fruits and vegetables that are available in markets at this time of year. Depending on where you live, here's a selection of produce you might find:

• apples
• artichokes
• beets
• bok choy
• broccoli
• brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• carrots
• celery
• chard
• chestnuts
• cranberries
• daikon
• fennel
• kale
• leeks
• onions
• parsley
• parsnips
• pears
• pomegranate
• potato
• rutabaga
• squash, winter
• sunchoke
• turnips
• walnuts
• yams

Looking for ways to prepare these wintry items? Browse our Local Recipes section for menu ideas.

The pomegranate is native to an area from Iran to the Himalayas in Northern India and has been cultivated and naturalized over the whole Mediterranean region since ancient times. The pomegranate's botanical name, punica granatum, translates as "apple with many seeds" and is sometimes referred to as Chinese apple.

Today, pomegranates are grown for decorative purposes as well as for their delicious edible fruit. Pomegranates are about the size of an apple. They have leathery, deep red to purplish-red skins. When you split the hard fruit open, a mass of red seeds between spongy, white membrane is revealed. Only the seeds and juice are edible.

Keep reading for recipes and nutritional information, plus tips on buying, storing and preparing this sensual fruit...

Think you can't plant a garden in November? If you live in a milder part of the country, you can! Cold-weather gardening is fun, and a great way to boost your diet with high-nutrient foods, to boot.

There are a number of hardy salad greens that can handle the cold. (Here, we're defining "cold" as staying mostly above freezing during the day.) When you're looking at seeds, look for greens where the instructions state they can be planted in spring before the last frost date. Some to consider: Ruby, Salad Bowl, Red Sails, Lolla Rossa, and Buttercrunch. And as their names suggest, you can't go wrong with Winter Marvel, North Pole, and Arctic King.

While you can plant seeds separately, we've had great success in mixing our favourite seeds together and planting them in our very own customized mesclun blend. Just mix the seeds together, then scatter them on bare soil more thickly than you normally would. Make your rows about a foot and a half wide for easy harvesting. When you harvest, pick only as many outer leaves as you need right away.

Kale is another great cold-weather crop. Choose several varieties so that you can enjoy a diverse range of tastes and textures. Similarly, Swiss chard is another vitamin-rich must-have, and you don't have to limit yourself to the green end of the spectrum. Varieties like Bright Lights cross the rainbow from green to pink, red, and orange.

You don't have to limit yourself to greens. Carrots can be grown and harvested well into the winter. If the weather turns cold, cover the plants with natural mulch and you can continue to enjoy them for weeks.

Similarly, radishes and beets (best enjoyed while they're still small) are fast-growing crops that do well under mulch. Sow seeds once a week for a few weeks and enjoy an extended harvest that can take you right into spring.

If you missed The 100 Mile Challenge on TV - or if you want to watch it again to reinvigorate your local-eating inspiration - you can watch the entire series online. We also have web-only extras and outtakes that never made it to TV:

Episode 1: The Purge
Extras & Outtakes

Episode 2: Back to Basics
Extras & Outtakes

Episode 3: New Rules
Extras & Outtakes

Episode 4: Half Way There
Extras & Outtakes

Episode 5: Pushing Limits
Extras & Outtakes

Episode 6: Final Stretch
Extras & Outtakes

Want to learn more about everything from foraging to yardsharing to guerrilla gardening? Go on a slow food bike ride? Watch people rise to the occasion with local feasts for weddings and holidays? Learn about CSAs, charcuterie and artisanal cheese? For these and more stories about local eating, be sure to check out our Local Food Videos.

Dried herbs are all well and good, but right about now is when we start craving fresh basil for pizzas, fresh chives for soups, and fresh parsley for almost everything else.

If you have some free window space that gets at least eight hours of light each day, you've got everything you need to keep yourself in fresh herbs all winter long. In fact, growing herbs inside can be easier than growing them outside. Indoors, you can control the specific temperature, lighting, and moisture requirements for each plant. And it goes without saying that harvesting is a cinch.

There are a few issues to bear in mind with indoor herb gardening:

• Moisture: Indoor air may be too dry for some plants, but this can be solved easily by misting the plants regularly.
• Pests: Tiny insects whose eggs would normally be killed off by winter cold can thrive indoors. To rid your plants of pests, spray them with a solution of mild dish soap and tepid water. Spray until water drips off the leaves, being sure to spray the undersides of the leaves as well.
• Temperature: Plants prefer it when the temperature at night is about 10 degrees cooler than it is during the day. If your thermostat is set to warm your house more at night and cool it down during the day, your plants may fail to thrive.
• Inadequate light: If it turns out that your indoor garden doesn't get enough sunlight for your plants to thrive, you can give them more of the light they require by setting up an energy-efficient florescent light nearby.

You can start herbs from seed or bring existing outdoor plants indoors. Check out our guide How to Grow Your Own Herbs for tips.