Year on year even though I plant simular vegetables in my vegetables plot, the crops differ. Alot of this is down to the typical British Summer Time, if you can call it that. It seems each year earlier and earlier the leaves start falling and differing fruits or vegetables are affected by the monsoon rains we experience with high humidity, followed by damp cold days and then scortching hot days. In these extremes its not only us that suffer.

This week my friend Allyson was only telling me how all her apples had fallen in her orchard so we were busy collecting apples to try to save the fruit. Again Blackberries have been turning earlier and earlier on the hedgerows. This year my potato crop had to be harvested early due to the heavy rain destroying the tops supplying nutrients to the root vegetables below ground and my poor outdoor tomatoes. Well these were terrible this year and again fruit fell and the plant suffered in the weather. However I had a fantastic crop of large cauliflowers!

Anyway with bags of apples in hand we set about baking and preserving. One of our favourite is our homemade Apple & Tomato Chutney.

You will need: 1.3kg apples, 1.3kg tomatoes, 2 large onions, 2 garlic cloves, 250g pitted dates, 2 red bell peppers, 3 dried red chillies, 1 tblsp black peppercorns, 4 cardamon pods, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 2 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp sea salt, 600ml distilled malt vinegar & 1kg sugar

First peel and chop your apples, tomatoes, onions & garlic. Quarter the dates and core and seed the peppers before cutting into chunky pieces. Put all but the peppers into a preserving pan. Slit the chillies, put the peppercorns & remaining spices into a mortar and roughly crush with a pestle then add the chillies, spices & salt to the pan. Pour in the vinegar and sugar and simmer for around 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the red peppers and cook for a further 30 minutes stirring as the chutney becomes thicker. Spoon the chutney into warm, dry sterilised jars. Seal each with a waxed circle and cover with a tightly fitting cellofane top and leave to cool before labelling and storing away in a cool dry place ready to be used.

If you like making homemade jams and chutneys you should check out my previous blogs filled with great tasty easy to make recipes and for more fun why not see the great storage jars I used in my blog how berry nice to meet you for some great ideas. Also perfect raspberry jam for your toast and cakes, homemade tastes so much better!