Piling on the Pounds

I have been given a whole trayload (4lbs) of blackcurrants and redcurrants by one of my friends from further down the allotment. He had a huge harvest and asked if I could use them. Could I?!

When I got home I looked up receipes and within a day or so I had made some redcurrant jelly, some blackcurrant ice cream and some redcurrant & blackcurrant jam. Delicious. The jam and the jelly will see us through the winter and the ice cream will be a treat on hot days.

The cupboard where I keep such preserves is now completely full, so I will have to find another storage space for the pickles and other jams that are "waiting in the wings" to be made.

I have also been given some Bramley cooking apples and they have been lightly stewed in a little water and frozen in convenient portions.

The runner beans, onions, courgettes and beetroot are all doing very well. We have loads of courgettes (so many that I have given away more than I can count)and I regularly look on the BBC Good Food website for inspiration on how to cook them in new ways and trying out different receipes.

The runner beans are prolific and we have already harvested 7lbs. I have prepared and frozen about 10 portions already and we have either eaten the rest or ....you've guessed it - given them away.

The white onions are huge and some have been harvested already and are drying out in the greenhouse. I managed to plait some of them and hang them up from the ceiling of the greenhouse, and it looks quite "French".

The beetroots that are ready have been harvested and cooked and preserved in vinegar. There are many more to come as I did some successional sowing throughout the spring and early summer.