[Gallery] It’s time to… make more autumn preserves

Camel CSA has a glut of tomatoes this year, so we got together for another chutney-making evening. Thanks to Chris for so generously allowing us to make a chaotic, steaming, sticky mess of his kitchen and to the rest of the team – Bridget, Charlotte, Danny, Jane, Penny, Robert and Trish.

How Camel CSA deals with veg gluts and surpluses

I love autumn. And there’s no better time of year to be involved in a community agriculture project.

The veg boxes are bursting with our own-grown Cornish produce – including delicacies like raddichio and fresh borlotti beans.

At this moment my kitchen is filling with a tantalising spicy aroma –  a mix of allspice, ginger, pepper, brown sugar, vinegar – coming from a large pan of chutney bubbling on the stove.

The green tomato and apple chutney is being made with our surplus produce – using unripe tomatoes from the polytunnel, apples from our adopted orchard and onions and garlic from our dry store.

Other Camel CSA members are also busy making pickles and preserves from other vegetables. Henrietta has a garage full of runner bean chutney, turnip pickle and tomato marmalade. Cath’s about to start producing chilli oil (oh boy, do we have a glut of chillis!)

We’re not doing anything new, of course. Preserving is a traditional way of using up fruit and veg surpluses that helps provide some variety in the winter months and during the “hungry gap” in spring.

So look out for all these delicious goodies as they start appearing from Christmas onwards in our weekly veg boxes.