Jam and jelly from a small garden and the hedgerows behind it, one batch at a time.
Two batches from the same bushes a week apart. The first boiled to 106 degrees and could be sliced. The second came off at 104.5 with a wrinkle test and is the best I have made.
Read →Medlars picked in November, left on a tray until they turned brown and soft, then cooked and dripped through a jelly bag for fourteen hours. A small, strange, amber yield.
Read →A mixed picking from the lane, 2.4 kilograms in all, cooked together and strained. The sloes gave the colour, the haws gave the set, and the hips gave the washing-up.
Read →Elderflower heads picked in early June and frozen; gooseberries picked in mid-July. Infusing the flowers in the hot fruit, the set from a high-pectin berry, and a jam that tastes of hedge.
Read →A batch of damson jam from frozen fruit as an excuse to compare three set tests at the same moments. The thermometer was early, the flake was vague, and the cold saucer won.
Read →The strawberry row produced over a fortnight and the jam was made twice, a kilogram at a time. Lemon for pectin, a short boil, a lot of scum and ten jars that set softly.
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