It's that time of year again and last weekend we were fruit picking and jam making in the beautiful East Sussex countryside. Like last year we went when it's not peak season (maybe next year we will get our fruit dates right) but we still managed to pick enough plums and blackberries to make 12 pots of jam. In the next few weeks there will be plums aplenty and the wild blackberries should be perfect for picking.
We used classic jam recipes from our friends fifties preserving book. There are no pictures and the recipes tend to be short but it gives you all the basic instructions for making a good jam. Our favourite is the blackberry jelly which is a beautiful deep colour and is perfectly smooth. To mix it up a bit we also made a batch of red plum and yellow plum jam, luckily it was a windy day so we could easily pick up all the fallen ripe plums. We also made a plum tarte, which was incredibly easy and delicious (especially simple when you use frozen puff pastry). It was a plum themed weekend!
We used our all purpose spoon and vintage beaker for jam making and our stoneware bowl and plate for fruit prepping.
Thanks to Kate Sherman and her family for a fun weekend of fruit picking and jam making. They will be making the most of the ripe fruits over the next few weeks to batch make their yearly supply of jam!
If you would like to learn more about preserving techniques our lovely friend Kylee from Newton & Pott is running four different masterclasses throughout September in London. Take a look at Newton & Pott and become a modern preserver.
