The Glut
Too much of a very good thing
Every summer it happens. You turn your back for five minutes and suddenly there are cucumbers the size of your arm, chillis turning the windowsill red, and tomatoes everywhere you look. This is the glut. And honestly? It’s one of the best problems a gardener can have.
There’s a particular kind of gardener’s panic that sets in around August. The plants you nurtured from tiny seeds in March have completely lost the plot. They’re producing faster than you can eat, give away, or think of recipes for. The kitchen counter disappears under tomatoes. The fridge is full of cucumbers. And somewhere on the windowsill, a row of chillis is slowly turning from green to a very insistent red.
This is the glut. And rather than fight it, we’re here to help you embrace it.
When the Windowsill Turns Red
Chillis are the slow burn of the glut world. For months they sit there looking promising — dark green, glossy, full of potential. Then, seemingly overnight, they all ripen at once. The windowsill that was pleasantly green becomes an urgent, fiery red.
The good news is that chillis are incredibly forgiving of the glut. They dry beautifully strung up in the kitchen, freeze well chopped into ice cube trays with a splash of water, and make the most extraordinary chilli oils and sauces that will see you through the whole winter.
The trick with a chilli glut is to process them quickly — a day or two off the plant and they start to soften.
The One That Got Away
Every cucumber grower knows the feeling. You check the plant on Monday — nothing ready yet. You check on Wednesday and there it is: a cucumber the size of a small child’s arm, lurking behind a leaf, having an absolute moment.
The cucumber glut is the most humbling of all gluts. Unlike tomatoes, you can’t really cook them into a sauce. Unlike chillis, they don’t dry. They are what they are: crisp, cool, and arriving in quantities you were not prepared for.
Quick pickles are your best friend here. Slice, salt, and cover with spiced vinegar — they’ll keep for weeks and go with almost everything.
Red, Everywhere
The tomato glut is, arguably, the most magnificent of all gluts. There is nothing — nothing — that smells or tastes quite like a tomato you’ve grown yourself, warm from the vine, eaten standing in the garden in August.
But even the most devoted tomato lover reaches a point where the kitchen counters are disappearing under trays of them and something must be done. Roast them down into a deep, jammy sauce. Make passata by the jarful. Slow-roast them with olive oil and herbs and freeze them in portions that will transform a winter pasta or stew.
A slow oven and a glut of tomatoes is one of the best combinations in the food world.
📸 From the Garden
“The glut is not a problem to be solved. It’s the proof that everything you did in spring actually worked.”— Tony, GrowMore CookMore
🧑🍳 Surviving (and Loving) the Glut
- Chillis: String them up and dry them in a warm spot, freeze chopped into ice cube trays, or blitz into a fresh chilli sauce with garlic and vinegar. They’ll keep for months.
- Cucumbers: Make quick refrigerator pickles — slice, salt for 30 minutes, rinse, then cover with white wine vinegar, sugar and dill. Ready in 2 hours and keeps for 2 weeks.
- Tomatoes: Roast low and slow (150°C, 2–3 hours) with olive oil, garlic and thyme. Freeze in bags. They’ll be better than any tin of tomatoes you’ve ever opened.
- Share the love: Neighbours, colleagues, the local food bank — a bag of homegrown veg is always welcome. The glut is too good to keep to yourself.
- Use the app: GrowMore CookMore has 200+ recipes specifically designed around seasonal harvests. Filter by what you’ve got and find something brilliant to do with it.
Got a Glut? We’ve Got Recipes.
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