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| My smallest Honey Berry Bush* |
If you cook it too long, it gets too thick--as in turns to hard-stage candy. I've not made cooked jam before, but my 1 3/4 cup yield from these honey berry bushes said it was time to start. And I cooked it a little too long. No problem. I added a bit of water, and the most delicious of Things I get to do today is frequently remove my little jar of jam from the fridge and stir it. The delicious part is that the spoon or fork must then be licked well. With 10 oz. being the total jam for this year from my new babies, not one drop of this is wasted.
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| Funny, lumpy, blue and sweetly tart |
I followed the recipe in Joy of Cooking which is so perfect for the beginning jam maker who is wildly eager with even the smallest container of berries. The sugar is added in proportion to the amount of berries. Some recipes would say to start with 4 to 6 cups of berries. Well, that puts my jam into next summer, and I just won't wait that long.
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| Lick, lick, lick,lick! WOW! |
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| Time to turn off the heat. |
The end results in flavor are over the top--tart, sweet, exploding with exciting hints of all sorts of the best fruits--the extreme opposite of bland.
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| I'm thinking (hoping) that the cute little pink points on the stem by each leaf will be next year's place to bloom and fruit! *I found these plants at One Green World (onegreenworld.com). |
Honey berries, Marionberries...berries, berries, berries...and unusual ones at that, in your own backyard! Lucky you! I enjoyed reading about these.
ReplyDeleteThanks, darlin'. These actually grow in the front yard. A couple of years ago "If it doesn't produce something edible, don't plant it," became the theme around here.
DeleteThis looks wonderful. I'm going to mention it to the farmer's marketers. If they would grow them, I'd buy them.
ReplyDeleteAh, Sweetie, you won't be sorry in the least. I wouldn't recommend them with cream for breakfast, but sweetened up a bit, they are winners. Juice would be terrific.
DeleteHoney Berries are new to me! They sound and look delicious though, I'll have to see if they're grown in Florida.
ReplyDeleteOh, SO sad to say that they are a plant that loves the cold. There are two types: one that likes the cold we have here and one that prefers it even colder!
DeleteI love making jams and jellies. All these berries you talk about that I know nothing of in these parts. We have blueberries, blackberries, dew berries, elderberries, mulberries, and that is about it.
ReplyDeleteNo strawberries? But you have amazing other fruits we can't grow here. No oranges or grapefruit here. Even some persimmons have a bit of a hard time.
DeleteI've never even heard of honey berries!
ReplyDeleteFound them in the One Green World catalog. Check them out on line. They would grow in your area (if you had room).
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