Ever since I was a kid, I loved jam. Especially homemade jam with fresh baked bread and butter and a cup of hot tea or milk (this was my breakfast today and I loved it so much). I even had some favorite jams only for pancakes. I remember our relatives making jam and I was always so happy when we got a jar or two. I wanted to eat it immediately but it was carefully placed in the pantry for wintertime. I never understood as a kid why but my adult brain now understands how much sense it makes. I guess I always took for granted good and tasty food. As I grew older, forest berries were all-time round in the supermarkets (before we were getting them from the local market). I tried some strawberries once (my parents got tired of me complaining that I want to eat strawberries in winter). But the taste was not the same. So I decided to wait and get all my vitamins fresh during wintertime.
This year, spending so much time next to the forest, I got to taste yummy fruits again. I even remembered how, as a kid, we used to go barbecuing every Sunday with the family in the forest. One year, we even foraged some berries. The first one to go was my uncle as the bushes were really big and it was almost impossible to reach them. He came back with so many cuts and I remember us making fun of him that he came back from the war. But he was successful in his endeavors and a couple of times after that I joined him as well.
My parents used to tell me when I was a kid how healthy fruits are. I never believed them - I always thought that they just did not want me to eat much chocolate and could not understand why as it was so tasty.
Now I actually know that blackberries are a great source of vitamin C which makes it a perfect addition to any daily diet, especially during wintertime. You can freeze them or make a delicious jam to keep the properties of the berries last longer. Personally, I was never a huge fan of frozen berries. I only like them in smoothies. Otherwise, when they defrost, they taste a bit strange. But that is my personal preference.
The foraging season of blackberries is around August-early September. This varies based on where you live and the climate.
A few tips for when you are harvesting blackberries:
they need to be fully ripe - their color should be a deep, purple-black;
make sure you get a bag with you to put them in and avoid staining your clothes;
pick them on a sunny day; on rainy days, the berries will have water on them and will not be as tasty;
! remember to forage around 10% of the total blackberry population, thus making sure you leave some for other people and for the animals.
Now, time to make some yummy delicious blackberry jam for the cold days that are approaching.
And a simple picture of the final product so you can see the consistency. I was a bit worried initially as my partner was saying that his relatives usually use a special type of sugar to get the jelly effect. I used just a normal fine sugar and it came together really well. It took my jam around 30 mint to cook properly. I did a test a couple of times to see if it is ready - I added a small plate to the freezer and every time I wanted to test the jam, I got one teaspoon out on the plate and waited a minute to see if it hardens. If not, I put the plate back in the freezer and tried again later. It is a really simple and useful test especially if you are not sure how the consistency should look like before putting it into the jars.
I hope you will give the recipe a try. If you do, please let me know how it turned out. You can also tag me on Instagram so I can see your creations.
With love and until next time,
The Green Kitchen Witch