I join the blogging team just as the full summer berries are being harvested. Our allotment is abundant with strawberries, raspberries, black & red currants as the local black birds and hedgehogs too, have also noticed. With all these fantastic colours and flavours both sweet and tart , we can all make so many delights such as summer pavlova’s, crumbles and charlottes, summer puddings and great sauces to accompany any meat or fish of your choice.

What’s more, why not make some homemade jams? You can really make this a fun family activity with first picking the fruit and then making the jam, even down to decorating the jar with labels etc. There is nothing quite like that just cooked homemade flavour, even more so if you have grown it yourself too. All of the picking farms (pick your own) are open now throughout the UK and you cannot drive anywhere without noticing the display signs along many a roadside, so why not have a go.

Don’t forget to check out the great storage containers available upon Pricegrabber I fell in love with these great funky storage jars with a twist and surprise under the lid for you when you open the jar what better to serve your homemade jam in,

Alessi Storage Jar, Pink, 15cm

Fun glass storage jar which features a plastic lid with a little man hanging on for dear life on the underside. Designed by Mattia Di Rossa. Product code - 81265807 £10

To make a quick and easy jam which you can store in your fridge and keep for around several days. That is of course, if it manages to last that long, when the rest of household have discovered it. Just take, just ripe or slightly under ripe fruit, as this is when the fruits pectin levels are at their highest which causes the jam to set. So you will need 3 cups of fruit (like our strawberries), to 1 cups of preserving sugar and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. You can put all of these together in a saucepan, place the lid on and leave this to soak for up to 2 to 3 hours as my grandmother would do to enhance the flavour of the fruit. Then you simply heat in a saucepan gently at first to melt the sugar, then bring to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes. The jam will thicken as it cools and it will start to set slightly, take care as the jam will be very hot so leave to cool. Then you can place your homemade jam in sterilised jars to spread on the fresh bread or toast and scones. Make sure your jar is sealed and cool before you store in the fridge. It’s so simple and tasty you will wonder why you never tried this earlier.