It’s beginning to come into jam and preserves bottling time now.  It used to be autumn.  Particularly if late tomatoes and strawberries are concerned, but some friends of the family continually join meetings with cries of “anyone want any gooseberries / starwberries / raspberries” etc.   They grow a great deal on their very productive allotment and our social groups are the lucky recipients of the glut that results.  The grower of the fruit does a great deal of jam making and is always calling for her jars to be returned so she can sort the next batch.  Her kitchen is almost the perfect design for this task too.  She has a huge island in the centre of a much enlargened kitchen – her preserving equipment is kept in a large walk in pantry just near the work station and she has thought long and hard about how best to place her working equipment so she works faster but walks less.