Blueberry Jam

I've always wanted to can and preserve my own jam and tomatoes. But, I've always been very intimidated by the process. Last year we took the girls blueberry picking for the first time, but I chickened out on the jam making process (plus, we barely had enough berries!) and we just made a Blueberry Buckle cake instead.

Well, this year, I dove right in! We went back to the same organic berry farm as last year, but we were earlier and all the rain we've had yielded a very bountiful crop, so we were set with a ton of berries.

I went on a search for all the supplies I would need; jars, big pots, jar lifter, lid lifter, and pectin. HA! I guess canning is not what it use to be because after visiting 5 stores, all I came home with was pectin and 4 oz. jars! For everything else, I improvised.

I didn't take pictures during the whole process because I was very high strung and nervous that I'd mess it up. But, let me say, it was easy...concise...to the point....and worked perfectly! I ended up with 24 jars of jam and a big jar of extras that went right into the frig.


When I took the jars out of the boiling pot of water and set them on the counter, the lids immediately began to "pop" . And I immediately started to cry! First, because it reminded me of my grandmother telling me about all the jars of stewed tomatoes she'd preserved and listened to. And second, because it meant it WORKED! Whhoohoooo! I'm hereby a canning fool!

Up next: PEACHES!