Through a series of unfortunate events (mostly rain-related), we ended up deciding to go strawberry picking very last minute last Thursday evening. We threw some food in the car for dinner and headed to the farm about 20 minutes after we’d decided to go. Despite the bad weather in the days preceding, there were plenty of ripe berries, the kids were in a great mood, and Nik and I set to picking. Then the rain came, a bit earlier than had been forecast. Nik took the kids to the car, I kept picking in the downpour, and with 10 more pounds of strawberries picked, we called it a day.
just a little soaked and muddy! (Clearly I enjoy this kind of work.)
We went home via Broom’s Bloom for ice cream and of course forgot to take pictures of the adorable faces covered in chocolate and vanilla. It was a delicious way to end our evening!
After we got the kids asleep, we settled into strawberry processing mode.
33 pounds total!
The berries on the cooling rack were drying for eating in the next few days.
beautiful!
The next day, my friend Emily very kindly brought her kids over to my house to occupy my kids while I made jam. 36 cups of strawberry puree and 18 cups of sugar (almost 10 pounds!) later, we have 25 pints of jam, hopefully enough to last us for two years.*
25 seals for the win!
I’m not a foam skimmer because I frankly just don’t care how it looks plus it does taste delicious. Do you skim foam off your jam?
33 pounds of strawberries also yielded about 1.5 gallons of frozen berries for the winter plus a good amount for eating. Hooray for the beginning of summer!
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More on how I make strawberry jam here (and also about where we pick our strawberries – we only go to Lohr’s now)
Another strawberry jam post, including adorable 20-month old Ellie!
In case you want to see the disgusting mold-covered strawberry jam again
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*I do feel the need to point out that most canning guidelines/ regulations state that food in home-processed jars are considered expired after 18 months. We haven’t had any trouble pushing ours out to two years (the moldy jam being the exception that does not matter because the jar wasn’t actually sealed). However, you’re taking your life into your own hands when you go against the rules. So just be warned. 😉 (And I’ve heard of people using home-processed food for more than two years so we’re not living that close to the edge.)
Salmon and Souvlaki 
I just looked up that restaurant, it looks lovely 🙂 Beautiful jam!!
The ice cream is amazing and the rest of the food is pretty good too! Nik too me there on a first (maybe second?) anniversary adventure day! 🙂
The kids and I picked 29 pounds a couple of weeks ago. I don’t want to see another strawberry. Cherries are coming in, though, so I might head back out. What farm do you go to? We go to Larriland, which is a lot closer now than it used to be when we lived in the city. I skim the foam, because my mom told me to, and I always do what she told me to. Mostly, anyhow, but she spent significant chunks of my childhood at a hot stove canning stuff, so I take her advice. We have a Baskin Robbins on our way home, we make do with 33 flavors. Happy jamming!
29 pounds – good work! 🙂 Did you make jam with yours? We go to Lohr’s for strawberries. I’ve never picked cherries before (well, not since after 7th grade while visiting my aunt in Oregon). THat would be fun! What do you do with cherries? Just for fresh eating? Skimming foam is definitely what you’re “supposed” to do – I’m just lazy!
After I posted that, I re-read and saw that you went to Lohrs. I’ve never done cherries, either, and I’m not sure if I’m going to get sweet or tart, or get a lot and turn them into jam, or get a few and just eat them and turn some of them into a tart. I did make 3 batches of jam with the strawberries, froze a bunch, and ate the rest. But my jam won’t last two years. I give it away, and Carter and the kids EAT it. On almost everything. Since I’ve started making bread, and now have homemade jelly, I have no hope of keeping jam much past Christmas.
My kids still don’t really know that they have the option of asking for jam on their toast or anything else besides a sandwich. Once they figure that out, I’m sure we’ll consume a lot more jam! 🙂 Homemade jam on warm homemade bread is about the best thing there is!
Raspberry jam tonight. I didn’t skim the foam and am feeling rebellious. The raspberry didn’t foam up as much though. Now if we can just get some ice cream to put it on.
Rebellion is good for the soul, right? 🙂