Despite the hot weather, autumn officially starts on Sunday and this used to be the time traditionally to preserve food for the winter months ahead.
But how important was preserving for human development and how much has our preserving methods, availability of foods and the influences of other cultures changed our attitudes to keeping food edible for months, if not years on end.
Cookery writers Sophie Grigson and Sue Shephard join Martha to talk about the advantages of preserving. Sophie Grigson's Country Kitchen, published by Headline, 22 September; ISBN: 0 7553 1054 3 Pickled Potted and Canned: The Story of Food Preserving by Sue Shephard Seeds of Fortune by Sue Shephard published by Bloomsbury; ISDN: 0 7475 6066
