We be jammin'

I'm getting closer and closer to being a Flower Child. At least in my head that's where I'm headed.

In reality — because let's face it, I rarely live in the real world even though it's nice to visit — I'm following in my mom footsteps. Where am I headed with this? Preservation.

No, not preserving mankind or anything like that, but, like, actual preserves. Jams. Jellies. Home canned make-my-mouth-water salsa and stewed tomatoes. Growing up we did stewed tomatoes every year for as long as I can remember. We worked all summer in the garden growing a variety of tomato species — roma, beefsteak, whatever — along with bell peppers and onions so we'd have enough for stewed tomatoes and fresh eating.


I can remember late summer afternoons standing over the sink as a teenager, dipping my hands into that horrifyingly hot water, bouncing a plump tomato around in my palm, trimming out the stem, scoring the underside and then reveling in the fact the fruit was so ready to be cooked down the skin would curl up on its own as I prepared to peel it. Often times I would stand on one side of the sink and my mom or dad next to me at the other basin while we peeled basket after basket of tomatoes, or chopped peppers and onions to add to the stock pot. I knew enough not to complain about how hot the kitchen felt or how I wished I was out swimming. Sure, I'd take breaks and go cool off, but I can't honestly remember a time I got upset because I was helping. We weren't forced to do it, but my sister and I were both aware that if we helped it meant our parents could come outside and act like kids with us sooner than if we didn't help.

Plus, there was that whole we grew it, we ate it concept which made being part of the process special. There are few things as satisfying as seeing the hard work you've put into the family garden pay off when putting up canned goods.

I'm trying to teach my girls the same thing, but they haven't had the experience of canning tomatoes yet, and won't for several more weeks despite my nightly vigil in the garden begging the fruit to hurry the eff up and get bigger and ripen.

The wait for tomatoes hasn't dampened my barefoot-in-the-kitchen spirit, though, because there's always jam. Oh, the jam. I doing my part to keep Sure-Jell in business these days.

In June we took the kids and a couple friends and their boys to a local strawberry grower's U-Pick and walked away with 32 quarts of strawberries — four eight-quart baskets between us — for a decent price. The kids had a blast picking and I was beside myself with the choice crop because I had jars at the ready. In fact, I had to sneak out and buy more jars before I started the strawberry jam process since I knew I'd go overboard, and while I was buying those I made sure to get more lids ... because, you know, I'm obsessive.

Jam makes for a happy husband.

Within 24 hours of picking our berries, I'd put up three batches of jam and then had to freeze what was left before I lost them. They were are the height of their ripeness when we picked most of what we had, so within a short time a lot of berries started to turn. But what I saved after jamming them was a good size haul — like three or so gallon size freezer bags. Can we say smoothies and homemade fruit leathers? And with that much in the freezer, I can always make more jam if we need it.

We still have a ton from last year, but I'm too worried we'll run out. Seriously, what family doesn't need 19 dozen half pints of peach jam? At least it feels like we have that much. We have a lot of peach. The apple jam is nearly gone — but I only experimented with one batch and it took forever to set. And blueberry. Lots of blueberry jam left from the 2012 harvest.

Second picking of blueberries.

Do you think that's stopped me from picking and preserving blueberry jam this year? Heck no! I've taken the girls to pick twice so far — the first round resulted in them eating all the berries, with the exception of a few cups I reserved for cobbler. The second time we went, Boy Wonder came with us and we carried home about seven pounds of berries. The kids have had a lot of fresh eating from our second trip to the farm, but I've also been able to put up two batches of jam so far. I say so far because I am itching to go pick more for one more batch of jam, but also for fresh eating and to freeze.

I'm tired of spending money on frozen fruit at the grocery store. The Dole company doesn't need my money when I can be supporting our local agriculture and talk directly to the farmer. I'm really tired of buying canned tomatoes for various recipes, but that's more when I need them in a pinch. Otherwise I go shopping in my parent's basement where the home canned tomatoes of stored — I call it Mom-A-Lot, my own spin off Save-A-Lot, a chain of grocery stores that offers a lot of goods (generally not name brand) at lower than normal prices.

Let's face it, I'm cheap. I can because I thoroughly enjoy seeing the fruits of my labor and when I grow my own vegetables and can use them, it's not only healthier than most store-bought canned goods, but it's helping us save money in the long run.

Once blueberries are done, and tomatoes are processed, I'll be focusing on applesauce and apple jam/jelly. I'm more than happy to try different kids of preserves, though, so recipes are welcome! Post them here or email me!