Get into a pickle this autumn

There is veg still to harvest and store away for the winter, ground to prepare, winter crops still to plant and sow and that most gratifying of tasks, the big autumn clear-up, to make a start on.

The new catalogues start to arrive, too, doing their best to tempt us into trying new varieties of fruit and veg. As usual, I’ll sit down determined to be sensible and only to order things I know we’ll eat in large enough quantities and in varieties that I know perform well for us. But as sure as eggs are eggs, I’ll end up with a list as long as your arm with all manner of weird and wonderful things to ‘just give it a go’. I bet virtually every one of you will be doing the same in the coming weeks and months!

In this packed issue we have plenty to keep you busy and to help you to prepare for the new season ahead. We’ve included all the usual practical down-to-earth advice from our great team of experts as well as a few features on some more unusual crops. Of the former, we have Joe Maiden, who tells you all you need to know to grow great crops of broad beans, while Colin Randel brings you up to date with the latest news on parsnip varieties and growing techniques to try next year. Thinking out of the envelope as usual (or should that be the seed packet), organic gardening guru Bob Flowerdew urges us to look to the hedgerows for an autumn harvest and to try some of the more unusual fruits that you are as likely to find in your flower border as on the veg plot.

Of course, how to reduce waste and make the most of the end of summer gluts is a priority for most of us in October. In fact, this is one month when getting into a pickle (or a jam) is to be recommended! To help you we have Christina Maxfield with a four-page special in which she has some delicious recipes for you featuring some of the produce we commonly struggle to find a use for. If you have apples in abundance – or just enjoy a tipple after all that digging – then contributor to BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme and cohort of the Hairy Bikers, Gerard Baker, tells you how to make a decent brew.

Once again, I’ve been out on the road meeting some wonderful gardeners. These include two Chrises; Chris Collins of Blue Peter fame and Chris Margrave of Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. Come with me this month on a walk around some plots with which they are involved as you take a break from your harvesting and boiling up all those fine preserves.

In the meantime, happy plotting.

Steve