Heading into fall, I'm always surprised by the complete turnaround at the farm stands – we go from heirloom tomatoes to crates groaning with every variety of pumpkin in paint-perfect shades

At Anna's Table is a biweekly column and modern guide to Savoir-Faire, in which Homes & Gardens' Editorial Director, Anna Last, shares a glimpse into the mindset of the moment, as well aswhat she's doing in her kitchen and bringing to the table with the best of the season's produce.

Fall calling

Each September heading into fall I'm always surprised by the complete turnaround at the farm stands over Labor Day weekend. It's like a line drawn for the battle of farmstand supremacy between tomatoes and pumpkins. We go from tomatoes (heirloom, obviously), stone fruit, and corn to 'Oh my gourd!' and all the bountiful produce ripe for fall baking and homecooking – just as gorgeous and juicy looking, with grapes, figs, eggplants, and plums. The color palette makes me want to head straight to Farrow & Ball. I also take ridiculous amounts of photos of produce, to what end I do not know, but I cannot resist.

We know seasons merge into one another, but here on the North Fork of Long Island NY this boundary is stark. I resent it a little over that weekend because it signals summer's end and the dreaded shorter days. But September is just the best month. It's still warm enough to fling all the doors and windows open and sit outside to do office work all day. The garden is going into its next phase for October – summer blooms fading, but dahlias are tall and with their showy blooms that keep on giving (here's how to keep dahlias blooming). The farmer across the road now has crates groaning with every variety of pumpkin in paint-perfect shades ready for market, and paddocks are filled with sun-dialling sunflowers. I like the pale buttery white and rarer red sunflower varieties.

The seasonal beauty of North Fork

I like to say my place is in the Bermuda Triangle of Pumpkin Patch Land – smack bang in the middle of two farms that welcome weekenders to pick pumpkins and pose for Instagram or simply enjoy mugs of warm cider and think about apple picking. As we head into October, the traffic is more insane than summer. I've only been here three years. I came up looking at the North Fork on a whim – someone said to me people like to be near the water (true), but it's so much more than I imagined with its rolling farmland, endless vineyards, muted layers of greens, earthy reds and the pinkest sunsets.

I bought the fifth house I saw, motivated by rising interest rates but driven by my vision – that the ugly brown house's wraparound veranda would somehow replicate those Australian homesteads I grew up with – so welcoming and open. I was homesick, and it turns out I was right. The veranda is a magnet for guests and serves as an outside room to the house.

Cooking for the new season

And those nostalgic memories inform every part of how I cook, grow, eat, and entertain out here. I did not set about to recreate this; it kind of crept up on me – some kind of latent longing perhaps. And rather than recreate it informed a new style and approach.

The brown house is now white, the stables are a fledgling greenhouse / dinner party space and potential pool house, and the garden has doubled in size. I cook out on the grill as much as I can, whatever the season. September is when I start to reintroduce the Sunday roast into my entertaining repertoire, and I realize all those photos I take at farm stands are really a guide to what I want to cook.

September, being a crossover month, has the best of both seasons. Roasted tomatoes, smoky eggplant, and chunks of sweet caramelized squash with basil and mint? Yes, please. I'm happy to turn the oven on and mix the summer salads approach – slice and dress anything (tomatoes, peaches, a white cheese with herbs and very good olive oil) – with the fall approach: caramelized or braised vegetables over slow heat for deep, complex sweetness. Mix the two and serve at room temperature with aforementioned very good olive oil and stellar vinegar, and it's real magic. The fresh, tangy flavor of summer's end produce flirting with the earthy, more solid fall stalwarts is like a fleeting produce love affair if you're fanciful like me.

Anna's herb and Anchovy Marinated Rack of Lamb

So for my first-of-the-fall-season Sunday roast, I'm serving a melange of all of the above with a marinated rack of lamb (you could also do this with a boned and butterflied leg of lamb). Herb, anchovy and caper marinade. Even anchovy haters love this, though they're never quite sure why it tastes so good.

• Into one of the best food processors (I like the Cuisinart mini prep from Williams Sonoma for marinades and sauces) go two tins of drained anchovies, 1 cup mix rosemary, thyme, parsley, and sometimes mint.
• Add 3 garlic cloves, ¼ cup capers and about half a cup of extra virgin olive oil, then blitz until it becomes a sauce-like (it can be a little chunky) fragrant mix. Add more olive oil as needed for a marinade consistency. A dash of red wine vinegar at the end to brighten and season with pepper. Go easy on the salt because the anchovies are the salt.
• Massage this all over a rack of lamb, and marinate n the fridge for a few hours, then bring to room temperature and roast in the oven or grill at 425°F on a cast iron pan for the rack for around 20-25 minutes until the outside is browned and the inside stays pink.

Anna's farmers' market roast vegetables

This is a lovely mix of late-summer and early-fall veg. The earthy flavors of the latter are brightened by the freshness of the former. You can really use any mix of vegetables here. The tomatoes are a must, bringing a certain sweetness and that ties everything together.

• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Cut 1 red onion in six wedges, 3 carrots in chunks, half an acorn squash, seeded and cut in chunks along the ridges and add to a roasting pan, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and half a head of garlic. Sprinkle over springs of marjoram, rosemary and thyme, season with salt and pepper.
• Roast for 20 minutes, then add 1 sweet potato cut in 2 x ½ inch pieces and 4 small eggplants cut in halves or quarters or large chunks.
• Return to the oven and cook for a further 20 minutes.
• Add 2 cups cherry tomatoes and cook for a further 10-20 minutes or until the tomatoes start to blister. You can also add the vegetables to the pan with the lamb 10 minutes before removing from the oven or grill (keep an eye on it for charring if in the grill).
• Mix together a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and ¼ extra virgin olive oil and toss into the vegetables.

Styling it up

I'll be serving lunch in the stables, recently tarted up with new flooring (a story for another day), on a salvaged table covered with my favourite Belgian Linen napkins and my Franciscan vintage dinnerware mixed with the cabbage leaf bowls I can never resist buying.

I'm never organized enough to think of how to arrange flowers in advance and I usually frantically fling something foraged from the garden together, five minutes before guests arrive, often with a base of evergreen magnolia leaves – sometimes only the magnolia leaves. It's the floral equivalent of a white t-shirt for me. But right now in the garden are my newly bloomed dahlias in deep magenta, pinks, and tangerine (I'm feeling very smug about these), Autumn Joy sedum, and some other branches for drama.

So in the end September, I welcomed you in, remembering why you are one of my favourite months. I no longer mourn summer's end and instead have embraced the seasonal transition to fall. October, I'm ready for you.

Shop Anna's fall hosting essentials