Got a glut of soft fruit? It’s time to make some jam

Make people envious of your jeely pieces by creating your own jam. It’s not too late, there are still blackberries, autumn fruiting raspberries and elderberries to be harvested.

You could even make crab apple jelly, or, if that’s too much hassle (it generally is), then leave them on the tree to be eaten by birds. Problem solved.

If you’re lucky, you might even be one of the first to get your purplestained paws on the first crops of brambles that grow along various public paths. Unlikely though, as there are people who know the exact millisecond of ripeness so they can completely and immediately decimate the bushes, even if that’s at 2am, and way before we’ve had a look in. May their jam be unspreadable. n