Next Stop, Jam

From time to time I get an idea in my head that I just can’t let go of until it’s completed.  A few years ago I decided we had to have a buffet for our dining room and I spent multiple weekends driving up and down Berkshire County looking for a suitable, inexpensive piece of furniture.  I finally succeeded, finding a piece within walking distance of our apartment.

My most recent “must be accomplished” obsession has been blueberry jam.  I am officially down to only one jar of canned goods left on the shelf from last year, which makes me kind of sad.  I’m well aware that it’s the middle of the July and it won’t be long until berries are out of season.  If I am going to put food in jars, it needs to start happening soon.

Last week was finally calm enough to make canning a possibility.  I ventured to a local farm stand to get some berries, only to discover they were being sold for $4.19 each.  The recipe I’m intending to use calls for 8 pints and I wasn’t about to spend over $40 on blueberries.  There’s only so far that I’ll go for homemade.  So I returned home, adjusted my expectations to the fact that I was not going to be canning on Thursday afternoon, and searched the internet for pick your own sites.  Soon I came up with Mountain View Farm.  Friday afternoon Brian and I ventured down there for my first ever time picking my own blueberries.

The almost 10 pints we picked cost us about $17. Much better than $40.

I’m not planning on making jam until tomorrow, so Brian rinsed the berries in a water and vinegar solution to keep them from getting moldy then laid them out on towels to air dry.  Later in the evening we measured out the total number of pints and placed them in produce bags each containing 3 pints.

Next stop, making blueberry jam.