One thing that August and September are known for in the garden is the abundant presence of blackberries. Now this year it felt like the blackberries season has started a bit earlier due to the endless sunny days with nice and friendly growing temperatures.
So for me the harvest of the blackberries has already started a couple weeks ago, and I can say..It hasn't been too shabby at all. In fact...I think I can say that this my biggest yield in all of those years so far.
Now I always like to think that this yield is so high because I did such a good job in trimming the bush, but we all know that weather has a lot more to do with it than my trimming skills.
Regardless...blackberrry bushes are 2 year plants. The first year they develop the branches, the second year they develop the fruits. So cutting everything all the way down is also not the way to go. And apart from that, they are winter evergreens...so it also makes sense to have them green throughout the winter because it still looks nice and green.
On average I have been harvesting between the 500 grams and 1000 grams of blackberries like every 2 days. And that is a gigantic score if you ask me.
Time to use some serious amount to make jam with that!
So damn easy
Now making jam yourself is one of the most easy processes there is. You can do this with almost literally every fruit and just toss in there whatever you want to.
I washed the blackberries first to get all of the dirt and little critters out of them. And yes, there are critters inside..you can see them walking over it. That is a product of outdoors which hasn't been sprayed or anything so it needs some attention. Are the bugs scary? Nehh..but just give it some attention.
The put the blackberries in a cooking pot and bring them to a boil. Don't make the boil too big as the splashes with seriously stain everything there is in your kitchen!!
Now I don't like the tougher parts of the blackberries in my jam so I use a sieve to strain them out of there.
I use a spoon to get the remaining liquid out of there and usually there is still a lot of fluid in there. Also the bottom of the strainer has some nice drips hanging on there so watch out with them for sure!
After getting all of the liquid out that liquid goes back onto the heat to give it a nice boil again. This is the part where you add in your sugar or jelly sugar or whatever that will stiffen the jam in there. I used lime juice because of the acid and about 1 part liquid 0.5 part sugar as a ratio for the mixture.
These blackberries are so sweet that they don't need a lot of sugar but you need the sugar to preserve the mixture as well. So say this was 800 grams of liquid I added 400 grams of sugar in there, as an example.
Apart from the lime juice I also tossed in there some shredded mint leaves from the garden. Now there is a hint of mint in there as freshness and I love it!!
Sterilizing the jars
I always use old jars for making the jam as I have no intention to have them on the shelf for years and years, but will just use them in the upcoming weeks.
Of course these old jars have been already dishwasher cleaned before and the need a sterilization afterwards.
I just put them in into a cooking pot and let the water boil for about 15 minutes. Watch out with taking them out with some big tweezers or pliers as these things are not scorching hot and will stay that will for a while. Don't touch them with your hands as well as that will bring back bacteria on there.
After boiling the jars for about 15 minutes and when the mixture of the jam is ready, it is time to fill up the jars.
Best is to fill them as much as possible as there will be less air inside. But I wanted to make more jars as I am giving most of them away fast so that is why they are all not entirely full..
Pop the lid on there and leave them upside down until they cool off. Because of the heat it will air tighten the seal and make sure it has a vacuum in there. You can hear this when the seal opens, you should hear a small 'pop' when you actually open it.
Leave it too cool of for at least 24 hours if you ask me. I'm not sure if this is the case, it is just what I always do haha.
And booooom
Wow and there it is. The jam you are waiting for. Thick with endless flavors and just ready to pop on your sandwich.
And the best thing about this? I have so much blackberries that the whole street is ending up with a jar of it hahahah
