Sunday, August 27, 2006

The fruits of our labor!


We discovered this week that we have an abundance of blackberry bushes on our wild and untamed rocky hillside! :) Some of the bushes are loaded with huge berries; others have a few small ones. But with a bit of effort (mainly on Jim's part), we were able to get to them and pick about 3 pints. Enough to make my first batch of blackberry freezer jam!! There are plenty of unripe berries left; probably enough to make a few more batches. I may even get brave enough to make some cooked jam to give as gifts; we will see.

This was only my second time to ever make jam. Jim and I made strawberry freezer jam together, the summer before we got married. Freezer jam is super easy to make, but I still get nervous that I will do something wrong and it won't set up right. Well, if it doesn't, we will just have plenty of blackberry sauce to put on pancakes, waffles and french toast. :) It made me feel very domestic and frugal to make homemade jam . . . well, I had to buy the jars and the pectin, not to mention a ton of sugar, but I imagine it still works out to be cheaper than store-bought jam. Plus, it is fun to use fruit from our own property. It's so cool how God provided all those blackberry bushes for us, and saved plenty for us in spite of of the birds, foxes, and bears . . . and whatever other critters like to eat them. Jim actually saw a bear headed over there this morning, but he scared it off. I'm not sure if I will be brave enough to pick blackberries by myself, though . . . Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey comes to mind! :)

It's hard to pick berries with Sam, not only because they are hard to get to (and the bushes are covered with prickers), but also because he wants to eat them all. Here is a picture of him from a few days ago, enjoying some that we had picked that day.

We also have a few thimbleberry and raspberry bushes here, but not enough to make jam out of. Perhaps more will grow in future years, though.

4 comments:

Tracy said...

Carrie, Your kids are getting so big. I'm sorry I haven't been commenting on your blog either, but my time has been limited. We have really been enjoying our summer. We leave Canada in two weeks, and right now the plan is to go to Kansas until we know where the Lord wants us. JA is going to look for a job, and hopefully we will be able to get some kind of insurance before the baby comes (only 6 - 8 more weeks - YEAH!). We are excited, but sad to be leaving because we have loved meing here. Once we get to Kansas, I will probably have more time to e-mail (and won't be blogging as much b/c my parents internet is slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww).

Carrie said...

Hi Tracy, and thanks for your comment! It was nice to find out what's going on in your life . . . we'll continue to pray for God's direction and His provision of a job for JA in Kansas. :) Wow, your pregnancy is going fast!! My sister is due in less than a month, I'm getting so excited for her!! :)

Mrs.T said...

That jam looks wonderful! Good for you!!!

Carrie said...

Thanks, Mom! We found out that it tastes good, too! :)