IT’S a bumper crop of blackberries this year. The hot weather and the sunshine have meant that the bushes are laden.

In fact, all the fruit trees in my garden are bowing with pears, apples, quinces and damsons.

It’s time to get the buckets out and start gathering.

On one of my business networking trips I was told about Richard Paget, who runs a business called myapplejuice.co.uk where he turns your fruit crop into preserved bottled juices.

It’s a fabulous idea and after two seasons of more fruit than I can possibly jam, this is a great way of making the most of the harvest.

This year I have Christmas on my mind already because I am planning to make hampers as gifts made out of our own produce.

My neighbour is going to teach me how to make quince jelly with chilli, and then of course, there is a range of jams that I can make.

There is pear, apple, cinnamon and nutmeg – this is my own recipe and although it’s a tasty jam, it’s perfect to have with roast pork too as an alternative to apple sauce.

I also make a pear and damson jam, which works really well as the sweetness of the conference pears are a perfect softener to the tartness of the damsons and then there is my pièce de résistance, the magic ‘Harvest Moon Jam’ – this is made of blackberries, apples and pears all harvested on the eve of the Harvest Moon, which is in two weeks' time.

This is special jam and will make a great gift for Christmas for our hampers.

The best thing about this time of year is that my daughter and I love to pick blackberries together.

We know the best spots and can pick kilos and kilos of the big fat plump berries. I love going into the supermarket and looking at the price of blackberries and then examining my own haul and smugly thinking what a bargain it is to pick your own fruit from the hedgerows.

Not to mention making my favourite pudding at this time of year – blackberry and apple crumble.

There is something nostalgic about the smell of the bubbling, sweet nectar of blackberries and apples.

It reminds me of my gran Betty, who would send me out to the hedges of Bachelor Hill, in Acomb, York armed with an empty margarine tub to fill up with lovely blackberries.

She would then cook up a delicious blackberry and apple pie served with custard.

The light is changing and the summer is drawing to a close, but picking blackberries with my little girl as the sun sets is one of life’s magic moments that I will never forget.

  • Writer and journalist Clare Macnaughton’s latest book is available on Amazon worldwide. A Modern Military Mother – Tales from the Domestic Frontline is an honest account of a decade of being married to an RAF officer.

Follow Clare on twitter: @amodmilitarymum Blog: amodernmilitarymother.com