Autumn Vegetables

Healthnews.com has a "list" feature, like David Letterman. This week it's "The Best of the Fall Vegetables".

1. Avocado
2. Beans
3. Broccoli, broccoli rabe, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
4. Garlic
5. Leafy Greens
6. Jerusalem artichoke
7. Leek
8. Root vegetables: parsnip, celery root, rutabaga, turnip, beet, carrot
9. Salsify
10. Snow pea
11. Sweet potato
12. Winter squash, pumpkin

I have a few quibbles with this list. Mostly, the point of an article like this should be to encourage people to eat locally-grown produce. How can avocados be number 1? In the places where avocados grow, there isn't really anything I would call autumn. I think "salsify" is a verb, not a vegetable. And how on earth, halfway through October, can it take you to the end of the list to think of pumpkins?