Don’t you just love summer fruits…like juicy, succulent peaches, nectarines and apricots bursting with sunshine and flavour or raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, sharp and delicious? You just know they’re good for you!

Imports now mean that we can get most fruits all year round, but mostly there’s nothing like the home grown varieties in their own season, so it pays to put a bit of effort into preserving the best of our summer fruit, which is coming to an end now, so that we can still enjoy it through the winter months.

Most fruits are easy to put down, either by freezing or bottling and bottling has long been a tradition in New Zealand…our mothers and grandmothers would be horrified at the thought of not filling up the shelves with peaches, plums, apricots, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, not to mention tomatoes.

You can also make jams and chutneys and sauces to enhance your cooking over the winter months. My mum’s tomato relish is legendary – well, in our family – try it, Ivy’s Tomato Relish. Apricot and Apple Jam, Cherry Jam and Raspberry and Honey Jam make the most of summer fruit.

If you’re a chutney nut, Apricot and Cardamom Chutney, Peach and Ginger Chutney, Tomato and Nectarine Chutney and Quick Blackberry Chutney can all be made at this time of year, while supplies are plenty and the fruit is ripe and sweet.

Check my Tips on Preserving, if you aren’t sure what to do. You can also slice fruit like peaches, nectarines and apples, cook them lightly with a little honey or sugar to make syrup and then put them in containers in the freezer. Berry fruits can be treated the same way or frozen “free flow”. Blueberries are particularly good to freeze just as they are, ready to come out and make sauces, muffins and desserts whenever you need them.

I always have Basic Tomato Sauce in my freezer; it keeps well and is a base for many recipes. Tomatoes freeze well free flow, too, or you can bottle them, bringing them out to make soups, stews – or more tomato sauce!

It makes sense both from the nutritional point of view and economically, to use seasonal fruits when they’re at their most plentiful and, hopefully, cheapest. A day or two in the kitchen will set your pantry up for the winter ahead.