This year has been a bumper one for plums, and the tree in the back garden has produced more than we can cope with. Plum jam is a real treat and a very easy recipe to make, as it usually sets very well.
Use slightly under ripe plums for making jam, as they have higher pectin levels, save the ripe ones for eating.

Removing the stones from plum (or damson) jam can be a pain if left until the end of the jam making process when it tends to cause a hot sticky mess everywhere. When making this batch of jam I roasted the plums before hand and squeezed out the stones, a process explained in more detail in this blog post.

Gherkins (or small cucumbers) are easily grown in the garden, and can be pickled with a variety of flavours.

Ideally the cucumbers should be no more than 100mm in length, as they can start to develop bitter seeds if too large.

There seems to be some confusion as to when a gherkin becomes a gherkin. Is it a cucumber until it is pickled, or can you actually grow a gherkin?

Well, we've been growing them anyway and have been looking forward to preserving them all through the summer. They've been nice and easy to look after, although next time we may plant a few more plants so as to provide enough small cucumbers in one picking to fill more than one jar. The tendency this year has been to leave them to get a little on the large side before picking.

Pickling fruit like plums is a good way to preserve them into the winter months, when they can then be used to add fruitiness to meals such as roasts.

These pickled plums should not be confused with the Japanese Umeboshi, which are not actually plums but the ume fruit which is more closely related to the apricot.

Strawberry jam is the classic, but the addition of gooseberries makes for a slightly tarter alternative. It's also a good way of increasing pectin levels, as gooseberries have a higher pectin content than strawberries.

I used frozen fruit for this jam, strawberries I'd picked from a fruit farm a few weeks earlier, and gooseberries from the garden. Both types of fruit had been prepared (hulled or top and tailed) then simmered for about 15 minutes before mashing with a potato masher and then frozen.
If you're pushed for time this can be a good way of spreading the jam making over a few days.

Strawberry jam is the classic summer jam, and well worth making if you have access to lots of berries. Pick you own fruit farms are always good fun and prices can be around half of what you pay in the supermarkets and you also get to choose which berries to have, which in most cases for jam should be slightly under ripe.

Making strawberry jam is extremely simple, but care should be taken to get the setting point as strawberries are low in pectin and can often result in a runny jam. For this reason it's safer to use under ripe fruit (pectin levels are higher) and add the lemon juice as stated in the recipe.

Rhubarb and orange jam is a old fashioned recipe which appears in Mrs Beeton's famous cook book. It's a good alternative to Rhubarb and Ginger Jam and can be made with young or old rhubarb.

This time of year we're struggling to keep up with the rhubarb, and it's a great chance to stock up on jams and pickles early in the season. Rhubarb always seems to produce a faultless range of preserves, there's a selection of recipes here.

Lemon cordial is a refreshing summer drink, and making your own using this recipe is surprisingly simple.

It would be a great recipe to do if you ever find crates of lemons being sold off cheap, as can happen on markets towards the end of the day. It's also a good choice for making early in the year, before the elderflowers are ready for  elderflower cordial.

Our friend Helga makes a delicious fresh tasting raspberry jam with a stunning vibrant colour. She revealed that her secret is to use preserving sugar with added pectin, this cuts down on the amount of time needed to cook the jam, so maintaining the taste and colour of the berries.

  See here for the raspberry jam recipe in more detail.

With the late summer fruits starting to ripen on the trees (and fall off in the wind), this recipe is great for using up a glut of apples and plums. I actually used the last of last years frozen stewed plums from the freezer, and some windfall apples. The relative quantities of plums and apples can be easily altered within reason.

  Click here for the Plum and Apple Chutney recipe in more detail.