Wet and Fylde
Chris Johnson of Ramson's restaurant and café bar in Ramsbottom, Lancashire (01706 825070) is an impassioned foodie who moans that he loses thousands of pounds trying to educate the stiff upper British palate. But he doesn't give up: towards the end of this month, he'll be selling over the counter and in the restaurant, late harvest Autumn Bliss raspberries grown by Geoffrey Parkinson on a nearby farm at Inglewhite along with Parkinson's organic, natural Jersey cream - at its best in September because the grass is in top form.

The Fylde, along with equally warm and moist central Scotland, grows the best raspberries in Europe. 'They are deep purple, a stonking organic annual miracle and well worth a detour,' says Johnson. A portion of both costs £4.75 in the restaurant and should be accompanied by the Belgian raspberry beer, Liefman's Frambozenbier, which will be on draught while the crop lasts - miracles permitting - from late September till early November.

Goods and Chatsworth
In September, Italian San Marzano deliciously sumptious tomatoes reach perfection so the Italian food website, Esperya.com, will be selling them fresh for the rest of the month for £2.25 for 800 grammes. The farmer, Sabatino Abbagnale, will get up at dawn to pick them, fresh and wet with dew, especially for you, and they'll be delivered in two days. After September, buy them tinned.

For the weekend of 14-15 September, the Chatsworth Farm Shop (01246 583392) at the beautiful stately home in Derbyshire (see below) will have its annual Food Producers' Fair in the marquee in the courtyard with such regular suppliers as Ashbourne Biscuits, Cauldwell Mill flour, Derbyshire Wild Boar and Somerset Cider Brandy offering special tastings, recipes and advice. Manager, Sandy Boyd, says it's a good moment to sample all their regulars: the foods can later be mail-ordered, bought direct from the shop or its London outpost in Elizabeth Street, SW1 (020 7730 3033).

Sharp shooters
Over 500 knives, from flint for the Flintstones and medieval daggers for the Medici to stainless steel have just gone on show at Fairfax House in York (01904 655543, until 30 December, and after in Sheffield and London). Cutting Edge is all about how we ate with knives alone. Forks were considered common, effeminate and foreign by the Brits until the seventeenth century.

Short orders
Falorni in Greve in Chianti makes traditional salamis (spot the stuffed wild boar heads outside the door) which has just been taken up by Villandry (170 Great Portland Street, London W1, 020 7631 3131). From this month the shop will be selling their pork and white truffle salami for £24 a kilo. New, too, is a rare Sardinian goats' cheese wrapped in thyme leaves (Seirass al Timo £9.98 per cheese) and a smoked sheep's ricotta, Mustia (£13.50 a kilo) from Costa Esmeralda in north Sardinia.

This used to be the best time to catch fat, oily herrings to kipper. Now even the top smokehouses buy them from Norway and Iceland, ready frozen but, because oily fish freeze well, you won't spot the difference. Neil Robson, of Robson's of Craster, Northumberland (01665 576223) says the firm buys 300 tonnes of frozen herring which are then thawed and smoked over oak. 'We tried smoking fresh Scottish herring but they were very small and people wanted to buy bigger kippers.' Their kippers sell for £3.95 a kilo - you can read more about them on the website,