Getting ready for winter

For the first time this season I had the heating on.  Just for half an hour this morning but it went on.  First real sign of autumn.

Greengages galore¬

Another sign is the receipt of gifts of fruit and veg.  One of Jack's other clients has a greengage tree in her garden and she used to leave all the fruit to rot!  Jack changed that!   For the last couple of years I've had to get the jam pan out to deal with the fruit.  Yesterday he brought me "a few gages", about five kilos!  Anyway, today I have made four jars of jam for him and two jars of chutney for me.  I shall make more tomorrow.  Some of it will be useful as Christmas presents.

The freezer too is filling nicely, this time including produce from my own garden.  I've frozen loads of runner beans and a few carrots and there will be more to come.

Some of the broccoli prepped for freezing

Yesterday I got a "Waste not" box of fruit and veg from Lidl and there were about 600grammes of tenderstem broccoli as well as strawberries, mushroom, grapes, plums, nectarines, tomatoes, peppers, apples and celery.  This box of joy cost me £1.50 and I won't waste any of it other than one mushroom.  As tenderstem broccoli is on special offer at Sainsbury this week at £6 per kilo you won't be surprised that I've been extra zealous in making sure none of that will go to waste!  Even the ends of the stems got mixed with some asparagus stems from the freezer to make soup.

Jack planted quite a few broccoli in the garden last week so I will have lovely fresh veg with my Sunday lunch in the deep of winter.