Making Your Own Jam, Using Your Homegrown Fruits - Raspberry & Currant Jam

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Yesterday I published a post about the hail storm we had on Saturday and the photos about the damage it made. Very soon I'm going to update you on how things stand, but today I'd like to show you how lucky we are.

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Mid July usually is the time to harvest currants and a part of the raspberries. I'm saying a part because the raspberries have a certain period of harvesting, I mean a month or so, so you don't harvest all at once. Anyway, on Friday we finished harvesting the currants (red and white) and the ripe raspberries, so we can make jam on Saturday. This is not only a tradition but a highly expected event as almost all the jams are pre-sold, I have pre-orders already from last year.

Money is not the motivator here, making a healthy product other's can enjoy is. I started selling the excess jams a few years ago as I had no space in the storage room anymore and had more than we can eat. Today I have faithful customers, buying every year.

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Currants

We've got a very healthy crop this year, more than I could ever dream of.

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The key to success was partly thanks to trimming the branches in time and using a 100% organic fertilizer that is certified for organic farms. They needed both as last year they got no care at all due to the lockdown. The reward we've got is this healthy crop.

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The Crop

Up until this year, white currants were always less and it's correct to say we got less and less each year, not to mention the size of the fruits, which were so tiny, it was almost not worth bothering harvesting. This year, due to the natural fertilizer, we got some very healthy fruits. I saw mo reason to separate the two colors this year. Two years ago I did that and there was little difference as the white turns light red during cooking, no matter how unbelievable it seems, so why bother.

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This year we also had a very good crop of gooseberries. This is needed in the mix for two reasons. One is the extra flavor that the gooseberries give to the jam and the other is the level of pectin the fruits contain. For those of you that are not familiar with pectin, it's the jellyfying agent that makes the jam thick.

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Both currants and raspberries are like juice, no pulp or fiber at all, just juice, so a jellyfying agent is needed to make the jam.

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Unfortunately the gooseberry alone is not enough, so I'm using a pectin extracted of fruits.

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The Method

The process is very simple. After cleaning and washing the fruits, I cook them for about an hour till everything is soft. The gooseberries need more time here as the pectin is in the peel or skin, I have no idea which one is the correct definition. So a good hour is needed for the pectin to be extracted, after which the whole thing can go through the juicer to extract what I need.

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This is an excellent tool, a big help in the process, that reduces any loss. The by-product that is separated from the juice is almost completely dry, so no loss there.

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After adding an absolute minimal amount of sugar and pectin, the jam can go into jars, cap on, turn it upside down for 5 minutes to sterilize it, although the jars have been microwaved previously for the same reason. And the jam is ready.

How Lucky We Are

I've mentioned at the beginning of my post that we're lucky. Lucky us we were able to harvest all these fruits a day before the hail storm. Imagine these fruits after the hail storm, we would have gotten nothing. Currants are all water, when you harvester, you have to be careful to ho d the green part and not the fruit itself as it pops and you get the content in your hands. Raspberries are the same, these are the most sensitive fruits I've ever seen. When harvesting, you have to hold the branch and put your hand below the fruit in case it wants to fall. When fully ripe, it can fall instantly.

We've got 50 jar of jam. I'm not extremely religious but grateful for everything i get and I consider this as God's gift as the work with it is minimal. So it was perfect timing I'd say, that we harvested before the hail storm.

There's a saying in Hungarian that in English can be translated into the following:

  • Don't leave till tomorrow what you can do today.

And there's a funny continuation to that, that sounds like the following:

  • Don't leave till tomorrow what you can do today, leave it for the day after tomorrow, maybe someone is doing it instead of you.

Imagine us leaving the harvest for Sunday. The hail storm would have done it for us for sure. We would have gotten nothing! Nothing at all. So there's a lesson to be learnt every time.



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4 comments
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Those look yummy! I hope to be able to plant a few crops myself and do something similar one day!

In the theme of sayings, there is one in French that translates into:

  • Life is hard without jam

Good thing you have a lot of jam for yourself and for others too! :)

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Congratulations @erikah! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

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To support your work, I also upvoted your post!

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Wow, it's crazy to see these numbers. Thanks for letting us know and for the hard work! I really appreciate it.

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You're welcome @erikah, nice motivation, thanks for your daily involvement here!
We wish you a happy weekend 😊🌹

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