Eating with the seasons seems so old-fashioned these days, when fruit and vegetables are available year round. But it's late autumn in half the world and we are getting some of this fall bounty.

Take these Conference pears from Belgium (95 cents each). They are long and knobbly, with skin that's green in parts, and an autumnal russet in others.

Cut into a ripe pear and you'll find they are sweet, mellow and juicy inside. I like to eat them as is, but they work well toasted in a sandwich with blue cheese and they would be so lovely in a tart too.

For a less mellow treat, try these pomegranates from California ($1.95 each).

Honestly, the ruby red seeds look like jewels. I've had pomegranates with pale pink seeds and those tasted about as bland as they looked.

Not these ones. The sweet-tart juice that squirts out of the seeds tastes so lively and full of zest.

The best way to liberate the seeds from the spongy white membrane inside is to do it over the sink, dunking wedges of pomegranate into a bowl of water and flicking the seeds out with your fingers. Then drain the seeds. This way, you don't get pomegranate juice all over your dining table or couch or walls. Once you've got a bowl of seeds, the possibilities are endless. You can add them to salads, make a salsa out of them, bake with them or juice them (it's messy but what the heck) to add it to margaritas or martinis. Frankly, the best way to eat them is the easiest way: Just eat them by the spoonful and relish the juiciness.

Equally juicy are these Red Rosa grapes ($7.90 per kg) also from California.

They are big, seedless and sweet. Though not as crunchy as big, oval Pristine grapes, they definitely have a bite to them.

Conference pears and Red Rosa grapes are available at Cold Storage and Market Place supermarkets, pomegranates are available at Cold Storage and Shop N Save.