Any Jam Makers or Home Canners Out There?

A gardener’s dream! We’re just getting into strawberry season, to be followed by blueberries and cherries. I can’t wait! :yum:

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I line my sieve with cheesecloth and pour the cooked blackberry sugar mixture or other seedy berry sugar mixture through there, squeezing out all the juices. The seeds give off pectin as it’s cooked as far as I understand. That way the seeds don’t get stuck in my sieve or colander.

Sometimes I’ll take the pressed cheesecloth that’s full of squeezed seeds and let it infuse some water with the berry essence for berry drink, before it goes into the greenbin.

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The peaches and nectarines from California that we’ve been getting in Ontario have been really good the past 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I never see Georgia peaches in Ontario.

I did find some South Carolina peaches here in Canada last summer which were awesome, around this time of year.

Our local Niagara and Blenheim peaches will be available around the same time at the PNW and Okanagan peaches.

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I had to look this up, since I’ve only heard of Blenheim apricots (which are grown around here), and turns out Blenheim peaches is another term for them?

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Blenheim (in this case) is a small town in Ontario where peaches are grown, that’s closer to Detroit than Buffalo. I’m just referring to the region, not the variety. Blenheim is pretty close to Chatham, home of the Hawaiian pizza!

This is my favourite orchard in Blenheim, Ontario.

The main regions in Ontario is Niagara region, closer to Buffalo.

Unfortunately, only 2 or 3 varieties of peaches are found commercially in Ontario lately. Most peaches sold in Ontario these days are Red Haven.

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Just finished a tiny batch of rhubarb-raspberry. Can’t wait for breakfast - I found a new local sourdough source :bread:

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I never buy imported peaches but a case of Georgia peaches caught my eye at Costco last night. I didn’t buy them.

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They get more heat units. Very sweet.
I might take a look around Toronto. I don’t have a Costco membership anymore and Costco sizes of fruit were usually a little too big for our household.

The corn I bought in St Thomas, Ontario last week was grown in Georgia. It was very good.

Rhubarb raspberry! Delish, even with crappy supermarket raspberries. I had 470 grams of
Rhubarb and 340 of berries. Sugar about 50%. Cooked the fruits separately, pushed the berries thru a sieve to de-seed, then ended up adding a tbs or two of seeds back in. A pinch of citric acid. I got two half-pints and a 4-oz jar. Thanks for the inspo @Nannybakes and @MunchkinRedux !

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Happy you are enjoying the combination of flavors.!

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Some newly made vinegars with herbs from the terrace pots.
Chervil, tarragon, chives, Clementine cider, Meyer lemon, basil, nasturtium, lemon/Clementine combo.

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hm, i have a bunch of nasturtium. i grew it to eat/decorate the flowers, but i have more than i can use.

Just the leaves rather than the flowers, tastes like capers.

OH interesting! i have a million leaves, in that case.

Hm I found an interesting recipe for salad dressing using homemade nasturtium FLOWER vinegar.

Sounds good, I’m sure the vinegar will be such a pretty color!

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@Nannybakes , those are lovely! How long could you plan to use those?

Generic apricot!


I’ve been making preserves for years but this seems like the first time I didn’t take it too seriously! Tastes perfectly intense.

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Love a straight-up apricot.

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The vinegars last for a relatively long time, I frequently add a little splash to a pan sauce I’m deglazing. I use them mostly in vinaigrettes.

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Just collected nasturtium flowers for infused vinegar. This is the most successful nasturtium plant I’ve ever grown - I’ve struggled with it in years past.

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