At long last my frozen bag has amounted to 500 grams of wild strawberries, there's even some still left on the roadside, think i might leave them there till next year (well not those exact ones as they may be a bit dry) as dog walking was taken over in the hunt for the tiny red berry.
Also I was lucky enough to be given scrumping rights (is that just for apples?) over a abundance of redcurrant bushes and a blackcurrant bush which Miss F helped collect, now those redcurrants are fiddly little berries to pick, there must be an easy way surly? We must of collected around 7 kilos with our bushes as well, and still have one redcurrant to pick over in the veggie patch. The blackcurrant bush has now finished with a bag of black berries full of vitamin C packed in the freezer (open frozen on trays which stops them all sticking together in a clump making it difficult to defrost a small amount), along with a stock of redcurrants and raspberries.
Farmer J was even roped in to destalking and sorting berries as Miss F had let half her load fall over so we had a bit of bark and earth included, insects were sorted. Following Pam the jam's directions from preserves. The redcurrants were simmered first then allowed to drip through a jelly bag, patience as squeezing ends in cloudy jelly!
Then sugar can be added and boil away till that magic 104.5 degrees is reached. With saved jam jars washed and sterilised the messy (for me, should of used a funnel) job of filling jars and sealing was completed with a sticker by Miss F, who also checked for setting point using the finger pushed through the jam on the plate technique, as she is apparently not only a good cake maker but knows all about jam making.
Blackcurrant jams a lot easier, soften the fruit add the sugar boil away, magic 104.5 again and decant in jars, after leaving it to cool down for 10 Min's this is to stop the fruit from rising to the top. This is what I didn't do when making wild strawberry jam, hence I now have strawberry jelly at the bottom and sweet berries encased in a bit of jam on the top!
Rhubarb and elderflower came out well, steeping the elderflower with sugar and rhubarb for 24 hours (in my case a little longer to fit in with a busy schedule) this was Alys Fowler's recipe from here Abundance
Also I was lucky enough to be given scrumping rights (is that just for apples?) over a abundance of redcurrant bushes and a blackcurrant bush which Miss F helped collect, now those redcurrants are fiddly little berries to pick, there must be an easy way surly? We must of collected around 7 kilos with our bushes as well, and still have one redcurrant to pick over in the veggie patch. The blackcurrant bush has now finished with a bag of black berries full of vitamin C packed in the freezer (open frozen on trays which stops them all sticking together in a clump making it difficult to defrost a small amount), along with a stock of redcurrants and raspberries.
Farmer J was even roped in to destalking and sorting berries as Miss F had let half her load fall over so we had a bit of bark and earth included, insects were sorted. Following Pam the jam's directions from preserves. The redcurrants were simmered first then allowed to drip through a jelly bag, patience as squeezing ends in cloudy jelly!
Then sugar can be added and boil away till that magic 104.5 degrees is reached. With saved jam jars washed and sterilised the messy (for me, should of used a funnel) job of filling jars and sealing was completed with a sticker by Miss F, who also checked for setting point using the finger pushed through the jam on the plate technique, as she is apparently not only a good cake maker but knows all about jam making.
Blackcurrant jams a lot easier, soften the fruit add the sugar boil away, magic 104.5 again and decant in jars, after leaving it to cool down for 10 Min's this is to stop the fruit from rising to the top. This is what I didn't do when making wild strawberry jam, hence I now have strawberry jelly at the bottom and sweet berries encased in a bit of jam on the top!
Rhubarb and elderflower came out well, steeping the elderflower with sugar and rhubarb for 24 hours (in my case a little longer to fit in with a busy schedule) this was Alys Fowler's recipe from here Abundance
Jars ready for the three bears,
watch out gite guests you may get a pot if you order breakfast!
I was very excited to see ripe blackcurrants in my veggie patch - that was until I picked all 10 of them that's 10 actual blackcurrants not kilos! No redcurrants at all so I'm very jealous of your 7 kilos!
ReplyDeleteI have just the right size baby jam pot for your 10 blackcurrants, may you get more next year. Can always come scrumping with me next year!
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