In Which I Made Lots of Jam...

As you can see, I have been busy making jam. In the end I made redcurrant, blackcurrant, and gooseberry (in that order). For the redcurrant I used normal sugar and it does look a little runny (although it did set on the cold plate test). I don't know whether that was because of the sugar or because it was my first attempt at making jam.

Because I thought the redcurrant looked runny I decided to use 1/2 jam sugar and 1/2 normal sugar for the blackcurrant and gooseberry jam. I weighed the fruit, simply added just under the equivalent weight in sugar, and did lots of stirring. I was pleased that I didn't buy a maslin pan, as it really isn't necessary. Although I was pleased that I bought a jam thermometer as I think my first attempts at jam making might have been a bit disastrous without it! 

So, I am now the proud owner of 3 jars of redcurrant jam, 5 jars of blackcurrant jam, and 3 jars of gooseberry jam. Next on my list is damson jam.

Picking Fruit for Jam and Signs of Growth

I've picked my fruit for my jam. Now I just have to make it. I am hoping to get time for my first ventures in jam making sometime tomorrow. I have just over 1 kg of gooseberries, 1 kg of blackcurrants, and 0.5 kg of redcurrants.

Finally, there are some signs of growth down on the allotment. One of my Lebanese courgette plants finally has a courgette growing on it. This probably means that in a couple of weeks I will be writing a post saying how sick I am of eating Lebanese courgettes!

You can't beat a pumpkin patch. This is my first pumpkin to appear this year. I didn't grow pumpkins last year and missed them rambling over the plot. This year I have two plants.

My white cabbages are finally starting to get it together as well (although something does seem to be eating them). The red cabbages seem a bit behind.

This little honeybee was enjoying my lavender late this afternoon. I'm off to bed now. I need to have lots of energy tomorrow to tire my children out and hopefully get them to sleep relatively early, so that I can get on with my jam making tomorrow night!

Calabrese, Perpetual Spinach, Peppers, and Summer Berries

It's got to that great time of year when I can visit the allotment and pick a whole bunch of things for dinner. To go with my Sharpe's Express first early's that we harvested last weekend I got some calabrese...

...some perpetual spinach...

...some green sweet peppers...

...and last, but certainly not least, raspberries, loganberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, and gooseberries! There was only a handful of ripe loganberries, but in the last few days the raspberries have come out in force, which was surprising since it has done nothing but rain for weeks. 

This year I am absolutely determined not to let the vast majority of the gooseberries and currants go to waste and am going to attempt to make some jam. My first attempt at jam making will no doubt appear in a post sometime soon :)