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Weekly Gardening Thread – 2010 Vol. 14 May 7
Free Republic | 5-7-2010 | Red_Devil 232

Posted on 05/07/2010 6:30:17 AM PDT by Red_Devil 232

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To: afraidfortherepublic

They are rather tasteless and the seeds are too large for jam or jelly compared to the small wild blackberry that also grows in the PNW where it hasn’t been pushed out by the Himalaya berry. I’ll bet you are sitting on some great gardening tidbits saving them for tomorrows thread...


381 posted on 05/13/2010 5:28:04 PM PDT by tubebender ( I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it...)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Almost forgot about the recipe for the blueberry spice jam. The amount in this recipe makes just about exactly 7 pints, which is one canner load.

The recipe I have for using with Pomona’s is:

12 C Mashed fruit
3 C Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon
2 T pectin
1/3 C Water with Calcium Phosphate in it (as per directions)

Pomona’s is just pectin that uses calcium to make the jam set. What I really like about it is that you can make LARGE batches, unlike Certo and Sure-Jell, and make them low sugar and it still sets up nicely. I mix the sugar, pectin, and spice (if any), ahead of time and mix it thoroughly before adding to the fruit. That way neither the cinnamon nor the pectin lump up.

I then follow the package instructions to bring to a boil and then add the calcium water.

I always test the jam before canning it. I take a teaspoonful and put it in the freezer to cool it quickly without freezing it, and check the set that way.

I split my canning into almost three days. The first day I get all the supplies prepared, fruit picked, sugar/spice/pectin mixtures made, jars washed, lids washed, pots out, utensils cleaned, kitchen cleaned, extra dinner made for leftovers so I don’t have to cook.

The second day I wash the fruit and make the jam and process it.

The third day I clean up the cans and put them away and crash and burn.

If you do it this way, you can make 4-5 canner loads of jam, which is about 30 pints, in one day. While one canner load is processing, I wash everything up and start the next batch of fruit and just keep rotating through.


382 posted on 05/13/2010 7:36:11 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: tubebender
My wife freezes Blueberries on Cookie sheets and then puts them in Zipper bags for future use. Freezing them spread out on trays leaves them like marbles so you can take a few and put them on your dry cereal through the winter...

I do that as well. And it also works with cranberries and raspberries.

I've done it with corn as well.

383 posted on 05/13/2010 7:39:23 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: metmom

Thanks... I copied that for my wife...


384 posted on 05/13/2010 8:27:58 PM PDT by tubebender ( I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it...)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Your garden is a thing of beauty! When things start sprouting, post another pic!


385 posted on 05/13/2010 9:02:22 PM PDT by MWestMom (Tread carefully, truth lies here.)
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To: MWestMom

Thank you. I will.


386 posted on 05/14/2010 2:55:33 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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