At this time of year many fruit and vegetable gardeners are dealing with a surfeit of something; be it courgettes, beans, apples or weeds.

Pickling, jam and wine making, as well as freezing are popular methods of dealing with a glut, but there's a less well known way to preserve many crops, and that's to dry them.

Drying fruit and vegetables is safe, convenient, and can be much more economical than freezing, depending on the method that you use. Many kinds of fruit can be dried including apples, pears, plums, and apricots. Tomatoes are famously good for drying, as are berries.

As for vegetables, mushrooms and onions can be dried, as well as peppers and chillies, but I think that this method is most suited to top fruit, and particularly apples. We now have several apple trees that are prolific croppers, and we don't have the space to store them for later winter use. Although I enjoy drinking cider, making it from my own eating apples always feels wasteful, and cutting them up to freeze is similarly wasteful of my limited freezer space, so drying offers me a very useful alternative.

Once dried, the fruit keeps well for a long time, as long as it is stored properly dry, and can be eaten as a snack, or soaked to use in cooking. So, how do you do it?

Well, if you are lucky enough to own an aga, then it's easy. But you can use a conventional oven, too, or even the airing cupboard. Best of all, you can make your own drying box, which gives those of us who love to tinker a fantastic opportunity to do so. Email me at Fiona.Sanderson@mac.com, or write to me c/o Tim Davey at the Evening Post if you'd like more details, as there isn't space to describe how best to make a drying box in this column.

Oven-wise, the trick is to keep the temperature as low as possible, and to leave the oven door slightly open for moisture to escape. Some guides suggest leaving it for a few hours, but overnight is preferable.

Choose firm ripe fruit, which is fresh, so that the nutritional content is high. Wash it, then cut it into to evenly sized slices, or rings, removing stems, pips and any bruises, and pat it dry. Dipping it in lemon or pineapple juice reduces browning, and prevents vitamin loss. Stone fruit can be soaked overnight in a honey syrup to make it even more of a sweet treat.

Arrange the pieces on baking trays so that they are not touching, and (when dried properly) the fruit should be leathery and quite crisp. It should spring back into shape when you press it. Tearing a strip in half will reveal any remaining dampness, which just means it'll need a bit longer.