Summer Abundance: Courgette Gluts, Raspberry Harvests, and Plum Picking Adventures

 August has arrived at the allotments with all the abundance and chaos that seasoned gardeners know so well. The summer crops are in full swing, and Sara, Sam, Iris and I are working flat out to keep up with what nature is throwing at us. It's the kind of problem every allotment holder dreams of having – too much produce and not enough hours in the day to process it all.

The Great Courgette Mystery

Our courgette plants have absolutely gone bonkers this year. What started as a few modest seeds from Lidl has turned into an absolute production line of yellow beauties and peculiar round ones that have us scratching our heads daily. The trouble is, I've managed to lose the seed packet labels somewhere between the greenhouse and the compost heap, so these prolific producers must remain nameless mysteries for now.

The yellow courgettes are coming thick and fast – some days we're harvesting half a dozen of the things, each one the size of a cricket bat if you leave them for more than a couple of days. They've got that lovely buttery colour and firm flesh that makes them perfect for everything from stir-fries to courgette bread. Sam reckons they might be 'Gold Rush' varieties, while Iris is convinced they're something more exotic, but without the packet we're just guessing.

Then there are these fascinating round courgettes that look more like green footballs than anything you'd expect to see in the vegetable patch. They're about the size of a decent orange, perfectly spherical, and absolutely delicious when stuffed with a bit of rice and herbs. Sara's become quite the expert at hollowing them out and creating these wonderful stuffed courgette meals that disappear as fast as we can grow them.

The plants themselves are monsters – great sprawling things with leaves the size of dinner plates that seem to expand overnight. Every morning when we arrive at the allotment, there's another crop ready for picking. It's reached the point where we're practically begging the neighbours to take some off our hands, and even they're starting to politely decline our generous offers.

Sara's Freezing Operation

Sara has turned our kitchen into a proper processing plant these past few weeks. She's been working tirelessly to get all these courgettes processed and into the freezer before they get far to big. Her method is beautifully simple and effective – she slices the courgettes,flash freezes them and then portions them into freezer bags ready for winter cooking and winter supplies for Sams giant snails that absolutely love them.

The beauty of Sara's system is that these frozen courgettes can go straight into soups, stews, pasta sauces, and curries throughout the winter months. She's already filled two drawers of the freezer with neat little bags, each one labelled with the date and contents in her careful handwriting. It's this kind of forward thinking that means we'll be enjoying the taste of summer well into the darker months.

She's also been experimenting with courgette fritters, which have become something of a family favourite. The recipe is wonderfully simple – grated courgette mixed with a bit of flour, egg, and seasoning, then fried into golden patties that disappear almost as quickly as she can make them. Everyone seems to love these crispy treats.

Raspberry Riches

If the courgettes are impressive, our raspberry canes have been absolutely phenomenal this year. Yesterday's picking session yielded an incredible 1.8 kilograms of beautiful, plump berries – more than we've ever harvested in a single day. The timing couldn't have been better, with these berries already earmarked for Sara's jam-making operation.

The secret to this year's bumper raspberry crop has been the weather. We had just the right amount of rain at exactly the right moment – enough to swell the fruits but not so much that they became waterlogged or started to rot on the canes. It's one of those perfect gardening moments when everything aligns just as it should.

The variety we grow produces these deep red berries that are sweet enough to eat straight from the cane but with enough tartness to make exceptional jam. Sam and Iris have become expert pickers, working their way methodically along the rows while I tackle the higher canes that they can't quite reach. It's become quite the family production line.

What strikes me most about this harvest is how the raspberries just kept coming. Usually, you get a good flush of fruit and then things tail off, but this year the canes seem determined to keep producing. We're having to pick every other day to keep up with them, and even then we're finding the odd overripe berry that's escaped our attention.

Sara's already started the first batch of raspberry jam, and the kitchen smells absolutely divine. There's something deeply satisfying about transforming fresh fruit into preserves that will last through the winter. She uses a traditional recipe with just fruit, sugar, and lemon juice – no artificial pectin or fancy additions, just pure raspberry flavour captured in glass jars.

The Plum Tree Madness

Our plum tree has completely outdone itself this year. It's an established tree that's been producing reliably for several years now, but this season it's gone absolutely mad with fruit. The branches are so heavily laden that we've had to prop some of them up with poles to prevent them snapping under the weight.

Sara has already produced about seven pounds of plum jam, working from dawn till dusk to keep up with the constant supply of ripe fruit. The plums are these beautiful purple-red varieties with sweet, juicy flesh that makes them perfect for both eating fresh and preserving. The challenge is getting to them before they drop naturally or get claimed by the local wildlife.

The Game-Changing Wolf Fruit Picker

Recognizing that we needed some serious help with the plum harvest, Sara made a trip to our local garden centre with Sam and the girls to invest in some proper equipment. They returned with a Wolf fruit picker complete with net attachment, and what an absolute game-changer this tool has proved to be.

The Wolf fruit picker extends to reach the highest branches without requiring dangerous ladder work or precarious stretching. The net attachment means that picked fruit drops safely into the collection bag rather than bruising on the ground. It's one of those tools that makes you wonder how you ever managed without it.

Sam was particularly impressed with how the picker works on the more delicate fruits. With plums, you need to be gentle to avoid bruising, and this tool allows for careful, controlled picking even at height. Iris has become quite the expert with it, methodically working her way around the tree and collecting fruit that would otherwise be completely inaccessible.

The net attachment is brilliantly designed – large enough to catch falling fruit but not so cumbersome that it becomes awkward to manoeuvre. The Wolf build quality is evident in every aspect of the tool, from the comfortable grip to the smooth extension mechanism. It's exactly the kind of investment that pays for itself within the first season of use.

Managing the Abundance

The challenge with this kind of abundant harvest is managing it all effectively. Between the courgettes, raspberries, and plums, we're processing fruit and vegetables from early morning until well into the evening. It's exhausting but deeply satisfying work that connects us directly with the seasons and the natural cycles of growth.

Sara's preservation efforts are the key to extending this summer abundance through the year. Her freezing, jamming, and bottling operations ensure that none of this wonderful produce goes to waste. Every jar of jam and every bag of frozen vegetables represents hours of summer sunshine and careful tending captured for later enjoyment.

As we head deeper into August, the harvest shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, we're expecting even more abundance in the coming weeks as other crops reach maturity. It's going to be a busy time, but these are exactly the problems you want to have as a gardener – too much success rather than too little.

The nameless courgettes continue their relentless production, the raspberry canes keep delivering their sweet bounty, and our plum tree shows no signs of exhaustion. With Sara's preservation skills, the new Wolf fruit picker, and the whole family working together, we're ready for whatever the rest of summer throws at us.