Cathy Rutherford from High Ercall and her seven-year-old twin sons Joe and Harry

When Shropshire gardener Cathy Rutherford found her fruit trees producing more than her family could eat, she turned to Shropshirestar.com for help.

Our vegetable swop section is helping gardeners who are finding themselves the victims of their own success and who are inundated with their home-grown produce.

Growers can advertise their surplus harvest, from onions to green beans, and see what other gardeners have to offer. Then they can make arrangements to swop.

“I think it’s an excellent idea,” said Cathy, of High Ercall, between Newport and Shrewsbury.

“I had too much fruit.”

Although she had let friends and neighbours take their pick of apples, pears, cherries and greengages, a type of soft yellow plum, she was still harvesting 10lb of fruit each day.

“There was too much for us to use, so to be able to swop it for something else was great,” she said.

Through the website Cathy made contact with Natelie Depledge, who lives in Whitchurch.

Natelie and her husband Peter have already enjoyed a bumper harvest of organic red cabbage, potatoes, green beans and onions.

All their produce is grown in their organic vegetable garden, which has taken four years to prepare.

Natelie said the first year’s harvest had taken her by surprise. “I have been taking it into work to get rid of it.”

She added: “Yesterday I spent 20 minutes picking green beans and there’s more to come.”

Although friends and family have been sharing the harvest, “unfortunately some of it is being wasted”.

So she made contact with Cathy and the two women made arrangements to swop fruit for vegetables.

“We got some lovely organic carrots,” said Cathy. “My twins Harry and Joe have really enjoyed those.”

Natelie, who works for Veolia waste management in Wem, said she thought swopping was a great idea.

Her workmates have been giving her seeds in exchange for this year’s harvest.

Natelie said it was hard to beat growing your own vegetables.

She added: “It’s ever so satisfying going out and saying ‘What do you want for dinner tonight?’ and getting a cabbage on your way in.”