Jam'in it up!!

Last week we (me, the kids, and my mom) went to a local strawberry farm to u-pick.  We had such a great time and it only took us about 30min to pick 37lbs.  Plus it helped that it was only the second day of the u-pick and the strawberries were HUGE.  I flashed froze all the strawberries because I knew it would be a few days before I could make jam.  I made two batches of strawberry jam (about 20 jars of various sizes).  And a guy at hubby's work donated 22 boxes of jars.... yeah you read it right 22 BOXES.  And there were about a dozen jars in each box.  He also gave us bags of blackberries that they had picked last year and froze.  So I also made blackberry jam.  Our neighbor gave us rhubarb so I made straw-rhubarb jam and a straw-rhubarb crumble...which was awesome.    I love getting the kids involved and making things from start to finish.  There is something so satisfying about making your own thing and sharing them with others.

 

The girls helping make the jam

All the strawberry jam

This is just the beginning of our jam making days.  I think we will be doing this all summer.  We will be doing strawberry, blackberry, maybe blueberry, strawberry-rhubarb jam and I want to try to can apple pie filling and applesauce as well.  If you have any requests or suggestions please let me know.  This is only my second year doing this so any tips offered will be appreciated.  I know there is a lot more to learn.