Why? Because I can
Blackberries, blueberries, the end of strawberry season, peaches coming and apples on the way. Summer and early fall have an amazing draw for those afflicted with the canning compulsion.
This year, for the first time in many years, I launched into my canning frenzy beginning with strawberries and freezer jelly. I have to say, for someone who has done traditional canning complete with boiling strawberry pulp, steaming canner and jars, and all of the associated trials and tribulations of creating a jar of strawberry jam, freezer jam is a bit disappointing. Easy, but disappointing. Don't get me wrong. There really is nothing better than strawberry freezer jam, cold, on hot toast with butter but making it just seemed to trivial and easy.
So we took a much more involved approach to blackberries. With the promise of lunch, I was able to talk the kids into going to a friend's huge blackberry bush. Together we managed to pick 30 pounds of berries and then we launched into the afternoon canning session that generally follows any morning picking session. The 2 year old managed the masher and covered himself and most things in the kitchen with a fine film of blackberry juice. We heated up the canner far too early and lived with the steamy, hot kitchen for the rest of the day. After several trips to the store to get pectin and sugar, then more sugar and then even more sugar, we started boiling blackberries into liquid jam and filling jars.
All things said and done we ended up with a counterfull of mixed size jars (everything from the tiny 1/2 pints to the usual pints and 1/2 quarts and even a few quart jars of jam). The evening was spent counting the tings as the jars cooled and sealed and feasting on the "extra" jam that didn't fit in jars evenly - oh darn.
Our blackberry festivities were followed by a day of blueberry picking to fill a chest freezer with bags and trays of frozen berries. Blueberry jam that actually came out as blueberry syrup (we will claim that was intentional). Blackberry-blueberry jam (also syrup).
And then peaches. Several boxes of peaches made its way into jelly jars.
Aside from the blackberries (which were free) canning without the benefit of a farm full of cannable food doesn't really pay off financially. The work is hot, a bit dangerous and certainly messy. But it was and will continue to be a great way to get all of the kids into the kitchen to see what can come from working together. We will go through most of what we canned in the next few months but that is ok. In the meantime we will enjoy the fruits of our labor.