By Deborah Geering

For the AJC

This week’s recipe, as it happens, is a very good illustration of the uncertainties of the season.

Summer vegetables are slowing but still around. Fall vegetables are starting up. But there’s not a steady supply of either.

What you get at the farmers markets depends on where you happen to shop. You might still be lucky enough to find tomatoes or summer squash at one farmer’s stand, but another stand at the same market might be piled high with turnips and collards.

So a recipe combining two late-summer crops, edamame and red bell peppers, with autumn apples, carrots and daikon is either a dream or a nightmare, depending on where you happen to shop.

When I spoke last week to Dave Bentoski of D&A Farm in Zebulon, his edamame was winding down. Many farmers are still selling peppers, and Ellijay apples are available now. Carrots are just starting to come in. Daikon, a large, mild radish, might still be a few weeks away, but other mild radishes are plentiful.

Good luck with your shopping. The salad is worth the hunt; it’s as beautiful as it is delicious. Even better, it’s easily adaptable to whatever is available.

Fund-raisers for flooded farmers

Sunday: Woodfire Grill will host a four-course dinner to benefit Love Is Love Farm in Douglasville, which suffered devastating damage in the flood. The meal, which includes wine pairings, is $100 per person. Call 404-347-9566 to make reservations.

Tuesday: Farmers Atlanta Road Market hosts a Pig Pickin’ to benefit Love Is Love Farm and Bray Family Farms in Powder Springs, which also was seriously damaged. Muss & Turner’s chef Todd Mussman will roast Berkshire pork shoulders donated by Gum Creek Farms. All donations will go to the affected farmers. 4 to 7 p.m., Farmers Atlanta Road Market, 2160 Cooper Lake Road, Smyrna.

Oct. 17: The Peachtree Road Farmers Market sells $10 Jim ’N Nicks Bar-B-Q plates from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The restaurant is donating the food, supplies and labor; all proceeds will benefit the Peachtree Road Farmers Fund. The market, at 2744 Peachtree Road, opens at 8:30 a.m.

Want to give? Donations to the Georgia Flooded Farms Relief Fund go directly to affected farmers. Send checks to P.O. Box 2641, Smyrna, GA 30081.

At local farmers markets

Apples, arugula, beets, collards, cucumbers, edamame, eggplant, field peas, flowers, garlic, green beans, herbs, kale, kohlrabi, lemon grass, lettuce, Malabar spinach, mixed greens, muscadines, mustard greens, okra, onions, bok choy, pears, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radicchio, radishes, shiitake mushrooms, summer squash, sweet potato greens, sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, tatsoi, tomatoes, turnips, watermelon, watermelon radishes, winter squash

From farther afield

Looking good: Florida and Chilean avocados, Caribbean beans, California broccoli, California and Arizona cantaloupes, cabbage, California corn, Georgia cucumbers and eggplant, South Carolina greens, California nectarines, California and South African oranges, Washington peaches, Washington and California pears, North Carolina and Michigan peppers, California and Washington plums, Louisiana sweet potatoes

Coming in: Georgia beans and corn, Texas grapefruit, Georgia peppers, Virginia pumpkins, Florida tomatoes

Questionable: British Columbia and Oregon blueberries, New York beans, Michigan eggplant, California strawberries

Local reports and the Packer

Asian Vegetable and Apple Salad

Hands on: 10 minutes Total time: 14 minutes Serves: 4

Dave Bentoski of D&A Farm in Zebulon recommends lightly steaming fresh edamame pods to loosen the pod fibers before shelling. “Shelling the beans green can be a real task,” he warns. “Your thumbs will be sore in no time.” Just 2 to 3 minutes in the steamer basket will do the trick, he says. You can also substitute field peas, green peas or even green beans to fit the season.

11/2 cups shelled edamame

1/2 cup thinly sliced daikon (or other mild) radish

1/2 tart apple, cored and thinly sliced

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add the edamame and cook until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Shock in cold water to stop the cooking; drain. In a serving bowl, combine the daikon, apple, red bell pepper and carrot sticks. Add the edamame. In a small bowl, whisk together the rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and ginger. Toss with the vegetables.

Per serving: 229 calories (percent of calories from fat, 44), 16 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 12 grams fat (2 grams saturated), no cholesterol, 268 milligrams sodium.