Blackberry Jam and a Canning Fiesta

Jordan and I went blackberry picking over the weekend. Blackberry season had just opened in the orchard we visited. At first I didn't see too may ripe berries and got rather discouraged. While walking through the rows of under ripe berries a couple of girls that work at the orchard walked past me, carrying cartons full of ripe blackberries. They pointed me in the right direction. Jackpot. 

We ended up with almost nine pounds of juicy blackberries. There were definitely more ready for the picking but the temperatures were sizzling on Saturday and the thirty minutes we were out there were a little rough. We cooled down with an apple cider slushie from the orchard general store, had a nice afternoon chat with a couple of goats in the orchard, had a stand-off with a very scary turkey, and headed home to start on the jam. 

This jam has been adapted from the Ball Book of Home Preservation. 

Blackberry Jam

makes 7 half pints

5 C. Crushed Blackberries

2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

2 1/4 C. Sugar

1 pkg. OR 3 Tbsp. Ball Low-Sugar Powdered Fruit Pectin

1/4 tsp. Butter or Margarine (to reduce foaming)

Prepare jars, and lids. Combine blackberries, butter, and lemon juice in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that can not be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove lid and let stand in canner for additional 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool, and store.

I didn't just stop at jam, oh no! My garden cucumbers have been out of control. I'm canning 8 pints of pickles every two to three days! This year I also discovered my love for dilly beans. I've frozen about ten pounds of green beans from the garden since they began producing, so the two pounds I picked the day before blackberry picking were definitely going towards more dilly beans. Crunch, crunch. Yum. They are amazing. I could easily eat a whole jar in one sitting.

I ended up with nineteen half-pints of various types of blackberry jam, eight pints of cucumber pickles, and four pints of dilly beans. Someday, I'll be a pro, making ten batches of pasta sauce in a single day. For now, I'm a proud novice!