While Ade is in limbo, waiting for the next manure delivery to arrive at the allotment, things are proving rather busy in the Agents of Field kitchen. 

We’re eating the last of the tomatoes, peppers and chillies which were harvested from the polytunnel a few weeks back. We’ve still got plenty of onions and garlic hanging up around the kitchen, and also a few potatoes. We’re beginning to pull up beetroot, leeks and carrots from the plot, and our cured pumpkins have now been stashed away in the loft for lack of space anywhere else!

Last week I made a batch of sweet chilli jam which will probably be my last jamming session of the year. Our cupboards are bursting at the seams with all the preserves we made throughout the summer, and we’re only just starting to open some of them. Favourites so far include a rhubarb and ginger jam I made back in spring and some pickled cucumbers. Those of you who may remember my ongoing battle with preserving cucumbers will be pleased to hear I finally found an easy, failsafe recipe!

Joy to the world, indeed.

But this time of year is really all about the soups for me. With a steady supply of fresh veggies and a yearning for cosy comfort food, you really can’t go wrong with a pot of delicious soup.

From zingy carrot and orange soup to hearty roasted roots soup, there’s usually a pot of something simmering away happily on the stove. And my pumpkin and chilli soup is fabulous at this time of year when I have such an abundance of both these ingredients!

I’m looking forward to cooking up some borscht this weekend, one of my all-time faves, we just need to dig up some of those beets first!