Saturday, June 27, 2009

Day 19 – Strawberry Jam

Yesterday we picked strawberries for the annual jam-making event. This year the strawberries were abysmal. They were about the size of marbles and the small patches of berries that remained to be picked were spread all throughout the field. Four of us picked for an hour and our total haul was only about 15 pounds. We estimated 15 pounds was not enough so we also bought another flat of prepicked berries.

Today we made the jam. Stemming the tiny specimens took forever. We ended up with seven batches of freezer jam for a total of 35 pints. I stirred sugar into strawberry pulp for 3 ½ hours. Hopefully the supply will last for a few years. The containers are stacked on the table beside me. Having the fruit of your labor so tangible makes the work more tolerable and rewarding. Knowing how good the jam will taste next to peanut butter between two slices of bread is also a good motivator.

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