A year in the Vale: what’s in season this autumn

Autumn is the Vale showing off. The orchards are heavy, the hedgerows are full, and the shop smells of apples and woodsmoke. Here is what we are most excited about this month.

Damsons and the last of the plums

The damsons come in a rush — small, tart and gone in a fortnight. We pick what we can and set the rest into preserve the same afternoon. If you have a free Sunday, a pound of damsons and a copper pan is a very good way to spend it.

Apples, by the crate

Our orchard is dropping fruit faster than we can press it. Expect cloudy cider, plenty of chutney, and a table of eating apples you will not find in a supermarket — Ashmead’s Kernel, Egremont Russet, the lovely ugly ones.

Cheese for the cold

As the evenings draw in we bring out the bigger, bolder cheeses. Ask at the counter for a taste of the eighteen-month cheddar — it has come into its own.

Come and see us. There is always something on the kitchen stove and the kettle is never far off.