We Be Jammin'

Avril and I picked raspberries, blueberries, and peaches. 

We've been making jams and jellies almost everyday since. 

It's very hot and humid in our kitchen, so the jam is consistently taking three times as long as it is supposed to in order to gel. 

So far, this week, we've made and canned a batch of: 

raspberry jam

peach jam

peach melba jam (peach jam and raspberry jam layered in the same jar)

berry jam (a jam made with a mixture of blueberries and raspberries)

peach jam

and blueberry citrus conserve (blueberry jam with orange and lemon slices and raisins). 

And we've made two batches of peach jelly from the juice collected as we peeled the peaches over a sieve placed in a large bowl. Note: The second batch, Avril made and canned entirely on her own start to finish. 

There's always a little extra jam or jelly or conserve in the bottom of the big pot that won't fill an entire jar, so we put that jar in the fridge and enjoy it right away. 

The sun shining through the jars of peach jelly might be the prettiest thing ever.

The blueberry conserve is surprisingly everyone's favorite jam now.  

We took a chance on that recipe. I wasn't sure about anything made with raisins... 

But once the raisins are cooked and set in with the fresh fruit, the raisins add a rich texture to the blueberry jam, so the conserve has the feel of a homemade Amish apple butter, but at the same time, it also has all the earthy sweetness of the fresh blueberries and the light tang of the orange and lemon. It's really delightful on crackers with a spreadable cheese.  

We usually only ever make and can strawberry jam each year, so this year we've had to learn a lot of new things. 

Some of the facts and tips we've learned/ had better clarified this year after all this practice canning:

Jam is made with chopped fruit and the fiber of the fruit remains in the jam making it more or less chunky. 

Jelly is made with the fruit juice alone. 

Jelly is so easy and so beautiful in the jar and made with fresh fruit, it has as much flavor as jam. 

Conserve is a mixture of fresh and dried fruit. 

You can more easily go down in jar size than up. 

It's a good idea to prep more jars and lids than you think you need.