Friday, June 5, 2009

I'm still here!

I am really still here. Things have been happening at Maggie's Meadow. I have 36 tomato plants in the ground, eggplants, hot and sweet peppers of different varieties, cukes, pole beans, corn, yellow and green summer squash, butternut winter squash, pumpkins (including Dill's Atlantic Giant), potatoes, Swiss chard, and a few herbs. I got all the peas picked and need to get those frozen (still holding in the fridge). There's lots to show and tell. So, once I get my camera situated....

This week, I made strawberry jam and strawberry preserves with some of the last of the local strawberries. Strawberry season is coming to an all too quick close here in central North Carolina. I made six half-pint jars of jam and six half-pints of preserves. There is not much difference: strawberries, sugar, lemon juice. The berries in the jam get crushed, and the the preserve berries do not. However, they are both DELICIOUS! Mine don't gel as firm as some do, but I tend to use superripe berries. Pectin is what causes the gelling action, and very ripe fruits have less naturally occurring pectin than partially ripened fruit. I'd love the delirious scent and flavor of the berries.

2 comments:

Chile said...

Oh yum. You can see the flavor dripping off the spoon...

The local strawberries here ended over a month ago. The couple selling them ran out very early at the Farmer's Market as everyone wanted plenty to last them for a while. I didn't have time to do any canning then so I just enjoyed them fresh.

Crossfit Gal said...

I'm hoping to get some strawberries this weekend to freeze. We'll see how that goes.