I realize we’re deep in pumpkin spice season, but there’s another orange food I'm giving my full attention to right nCarrots. Yes, everyday, nothing-too-special carrots. The loose ones piled into bins at my farmers' market are going for a buck a pound; not to stock up on them seems almost foolish.

Price isn’t the only motivating factor. The fall weather brings out the best in this root vegetable, and the different colors and varieties make buying and cooking carrots a more interesting exercise than you might think.

Ready to release the grip on your PSL and get to know this other autumnal treat? I promise it’s worth it.

The carrots you buy year-round by the bagful at the grocery store come courtesy of California, the source of more than 80 percent of the U.S. crop.

But carrots do have a season. They thrive in cool weather, which is why late spring and fall are the best times for locally grown carrots.

You should be able to get your fill of fall carrots until the ground freezes, says farmer Alison Parker of Radical Root Farm in Libertyville, Illinois.

Purple isn’t the new black in carrots. In fact, orange is the new purple.

Seriously, the first known carrots, circa 1000 A.D. Afghanistan, were purple, or purple with yellow insides, says carrot genetics expert Philipp Simon, a horticulture professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and research leader at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.

The orange carrot is likely the result of a genetic mutation that for whatever reason caught on over time and continents, he says.

Surprisingly, purple, red, and yellow carrots have less of an outright sweet, carrot-y flavor; some even skew bitter. “I personally am not too excited about the paler carrots,” admits Parker.

Orange carrots taste the way they do—sweet and snackable—because as the most familiar and popular carrot around and the type that we prefer to eat raw, that’s where researchers such as Simon have focused their crop improvement efforts.

But all carrots—purple, yellow, red, orange, and white—are chock full of antioxidants. The deeper the color, the more nutrients, the better for you.

That’s the prevailing assumption but variety and growing conditions, not size, drive flavor.

So don’t automatically assume a big carrot is tough and tasteless. Carrots need time and cooler weather for their natural sugars to accumulate. In fact, while a young, small carrot is typically more tender, it also tends to not be that sweet, says Simon.

Nope. A young carrot is harvested before it's fully grown.

Baby carrots, on the other hand, are just 2-inch nubbins carved from regular carrots. Credit goes to one Mike Yurosek, a California carrot farmer who in 1986 figured out a way to make use of the gnarlier-looking carrots in his crop. In other words, they’re pure marketing genius (or pure evil, depending on who you ask).

Nowadays, there are certain varieties specifically used for baby-cut carrot production, says Simon.

Yes. They're usually sold within a day of coming out of the ground.

Supermarket carrots might not be as old as you think, though. The big California growers get carrots from field to store typically within a week, says Simon. That goes for cut and bagged carrots as well as those sold tops-on in bunches. It’s at the store level—and in our own fridges—where the days or weeks can add up.

That depends. The tops are edible, so if you’re striving to be #wasteless, carrots with their greens attached are a twofer (and yes, of course we have recipes!).

However, the tops actually suck moisture from the root. Leave them on and the carrots themselves start to lose crispness pretty quickly. In that case, you’d be better off buying them with the greens already lopped off.

An even color throughout and no deterioration on the crown end. Thin root hairs are a sign of age and not ideal, says Simon.

If you’re buying them with their tops, the greens should look, well, green and vibrant, not flimsy, wilted, and brown.

With bagged carrots, avoid those that seem overly wet or dry inside the bag.

A split or cracked carrot isn’t a lost cause; it could actually be a good sign. Some varieties are more tender and juicy and, as a result, also more prone to cracking as they grow, Simon says.

They'll stay crisp and sweet for weeks when stored in a breathable bag in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer.

Freshly harvested carrots from the farmers' market give off a fair amount of moisture, so change out the bag or place a paper towel in the bag if you notice excess water.

And don’t put carrots in the same drawer with apples and other ethylene-producing fruits. That’ll turn carrots bitter, Simon says.

If you’ve bought carrots with their tops, remove and use the greens as soon as you can. Minus their tops, carrots will still keep for weeks refrigerated, but says Parker, “The greens really aren’t meant to be stored that long.”