… went berry picking
followed the same day by jam making
and then by jam eating!
Despite my best attempts I've misjudged it again and this year's batch is definitely soft-set jam. Still, it tastes good and we had fun.
knitting, nature and living with autism in the family
little cotton rabbits 
Try strawberry and rhubarb, a great combination! Enjoy the summer.
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Looks delish Julie and the top photo just makes my mouth water ;o)
I am planning to do the exact same this week, my lovely daughter who has been away for 4 WHOLE weeks in costa rica returns on tuesday (I am beside myself with excitement) and before she went away we planned lots of lovely things to do on her return eeeeeekkkkk!
enjoy your sunday
j x
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I think soft set is the best jam! I’ve made three batches this year and the first two were over set but the third looks like it is going to be yummy – just have to wait for my diet holiday to be able to tell for sure! Lucy xx
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Hi Julie,
I love making jam too. For strawberry I add the juice of 2 lemmons as well as using jam making sugar and it sets a treat. I hope you all have a great Summer.
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You know…I prefer soft set!!! I’m very curious..I have never seen berries grown like that…are they in baskets?? It makes so much sense to have them elevated so many of the things that do them in are on the ground…I’d love to know!!! So happy your doing fun things with your lovely daughter!!!
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That looks like a lot of fun, we are just waiting to the local strawberry farm’s crop to ripen and we will be picking them too. I won’t be making the jam though as we are off sugar in an attempt to calm down the youngest and also get my hormones back into a liveable range. That first photo is great….how big is that strawberry!!
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Soft set is good in natural yougurt (mixes well) and is really good for dunking bread sticks in for a sweet treat. Glad you had fun in the first week and hope it continues! x
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I’ve never seen Strawberry plants off the ground like that. That would be so much easier to pick! I always do freezer jam with Strawberries… delicious!
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Enjoy your summer — I can smell and taste your jam all the way in New York. Deb
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You take the BEST pictures! Soft set is lovely swirled in yougert or whipped cream, dribbled overpancakes or waffles or on ice cream and cream puffs- its summer by the spoonful!
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Strawberry jam is one of the hardest to do but always yummy even if soft, and then again you could look on it as being healthier as it is impossible to spread too thickly!
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Uhmmm… I can almost taste the freshly made jam. Yum!
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Yum yum. I usually add a few red currants to my strawberry jam…it helps with the setting.
Hugs,
A x
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Don’t you just love it when an adventure ends up with eating something nice! 🙂
Looks like you had a fun day!
Vivienne x
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Darling girl – it’s TASTING the jam that ultimately counts. And what a great experience for the kids – from fruit on the vine to jam on the scone. It’s a great feeling!
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Oh my god. Do they grow on trees over there?
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Sounds like a good week to me .
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Looks delicious!
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You’ve got to love those ‘table top’ fruits – no bending over and very clean strawberries!
We had soft set jam too this year – I just think it’s more versatile – drizzling AND spreading potential!
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Gorgeous strawberry pic – looks too good to eat!
I love soft set jam gently folded into double cream and topped on a homemade meringue for pavlova or Eton Mess. Mmmmmm.
Be honest – did you eat more that you picked? I know I would!
Pen x
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My strawberry jam was soft, too. It was my first time making it and I guess I will label all the jars as “strawberry sauce” to give at Christmas, although I still think it tastes great on toast. My strawberry rhubarb turned out better. At least the two of you had fun times together!
I was amazed at seeing the strawberry plants up off the ground like that. I’ve never seen them raised before!
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Love your strawberry photo. Even runny jam is wonderful when it’s homemade. How wonderful that you could share the day with your daughter.
(By the way, when my jam turns out thin I just call it syrup) 🙂
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Oh my goodness! How do you get the berries up there? We have deer so that wouldn’t work with them, but it would against the slugs! I miss making jam, we picked berries as kids and what we didn’t eat in the field or as shortcake went to jam. Mmmm. Yes, rhubarb and strawberries make a great pie/tart. Yum!
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yum!
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The PYo farm you visit looks amazing. Sadly, all of ours seem to have closed this year.No jam making for us. How tall Amy is getting too. all gorwn up! Enjoy your jam. Home made scones and clotted cream are a favourite of ours too!
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I want to eat that jam, no matter of its consistency. Glad you had fun.
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I’ve heard that if you include the white part of the berry (right under the stem) it will set firmer. Supposedly there’s more pectin there?
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Julie,
I often make a soft set jam, it
s become a bit of a standing joke with my friend Nate (who runs our local Deli in Rawtenstall). Mind you i think a soft set is better than overcooked or a firm set, because i think that the jam can lose its fresh colour.Love Carole from Rossendale xxxx
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Yum!! Soft set is best! Honest!!…and I love picking No-Bending-Over Strawberries too! Enjoy! Hugs x
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I am also amazed at that set up in the berry patch, are they grown in planters or pots and then placed up high on some sort of supports? We are very curious about this!
Best way to eat strawberries – with lettuce or spinach and drizzled with balsamic or fig balsamic dressing – yum! Had some the other day.
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What a huge strawberry!!
I much, much prefer soft set jam – I hate the sort you buy in shops that is solid like jelly.
I miss my Dad’d homemade jam, he’d give us loads every year from fruit he had grown – I still have a couple of jars left, I could never use them now, even though they make me sad :0(
We have a a trip to the PYO on our list of things to do this hols, haven’t done it in years!!
S x
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strawbs and a gooseberries – perfect set!!!
xxx
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ooo, strawberry jam, always wanted to give that a go. Might have to copycat you on that one.
Kier x
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What kind of strawberries are those? Here in Manitoba, Canada ours are all grown on mounds on the ground. Really back breaking work to pick them. That’s why, now that I’m senior, I pick the best strawberries from the baskets at the farmers market!!!
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It looks like a perfect day….very interestig how the strawberries are gone. Here they grow them on the ground but on a vine looks much smarter!
The jam….I made peach, it was runny.
I like your wording better, soft set.
It looks wonderful – hope you enjoyed each bite.
The blanket – you inspire me to one day learn to crochet – enjoy your day:-)
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Wow, the strawberries look amazing and so does the jam!! Yummy!! We’ve been gorging on grapes and strawberries recently.
xx
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nothing beats home made jam on lovely bread or scones.
I made plum jam yesterday but mines a bit soft too. I find it hard to reach the set point with jam without burning it to the bottom of the pan (I hope mine plum spread escaped the smoke!)
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I just love your blog. It is absolutely gorgeus. Congratulations for the achievements in your life.
I am writing you from Spain and I am just waiting to be able to buy some bunnies from your shop … and eager to be able to purchase the instructions to knit one.
Thank you so much.
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I would love to make jam, it looks lovely.
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Strawberry jam is the best – especially soft set and spread on fresh baked scones :o)
xxx
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Homemade jam is the absolute best. Looks so yummy! What time is breakfast?
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Hi Julie…apologies if this isn’t about your lovely post…but I am so excited! I won Bryn the Bear from the Saving rare Breeds raffle! I can’t wait for him to arrive – I blogged about it today if you want to see who he will be staying with… thank you so much for being so generous..he will be living in a very loving home :)x
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Gimme that great big fat juicy strawberry right now. That is Summer all wrapped up into one fruit! All our home grown strawbs and now it seems our pumpkins are being nibbled by the cutest little mouse ever. I can’t deny him the fruits of our labour because he is a lovely fat round chocolate brown coloured bright-eyed fearless mouse who has made a home in amongst our flower pots and does a great job of clearing up the birdseed that drops from the feeders overhead. I think he has his eye on all our sunflower heads – last year we dried the heads in the garage to use some of the seeds again but come spring we discovered piles of shelled sunflower seeds on the floor beneath the remanents of the heads hanging above – they must have been quite acrobatic for their wholesome meal…..
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Julie,
The photo of the strawberry is wonderful. Looks yummy! Love the homemade strawberry jam!
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Yummy 🙂 I only have few strawberries in my garden, not enough for jam making.
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HOPE YOU ARE ALL HAVING A GOOD TIME.
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Hi Julie, I have re-found your blog after blog-hopping a quite while back. I have to say your animals are so adorable, please can you keep me informed as to when you will have some more to sell? You are very inspirational too, I have gone back and read your posts over the last few months and could have easily read more, but they will have to wait for another day! I hope you enjoy the last few weeks of the summer holidays, it certainly looks like you’ve had fun so far x
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I’m glad I’m not the only one! This morning my oldest smeared strawberry jam on his bagel and it oozed all over the place. Nice and gooey. But it does taste good!!
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I’m living in Germany at the moment and they having special jam-setting sugar here, in different strengths. You just bring the fruit to the boil, add the sugar and stir for 4 minutes, and Bingo! instant jam. It means that delicate fruits like strawberries keep their colour. Yum.
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