Blackberry jelly

This weekend we found an enormous blackberry patch, completely by chance. About 500g came home in a bag, just a small picking but we will try to go back for more soon.

Since wild blackberries tend to be very pippy jelly seemed to be a better idea than jam. 400g went into a pan with a little water to be boiled and mashed, then left to drip through a jelly bag overnight. I had a flash of inspiration and realised I could hang a jelly bag from the extractor fan knob. Oh, and the missing 100g of berries were eaten :)

The juice in the bowl measured just over half a pint, so it was mixed with the juice of a lemon and 8oz jam sugar (the stuff with pectin already added in) and boiled vigorously for 4 minutes. A small test on a chilled plate showed it had reached setting point so it was poured into jars.

400g of berries gave about two and a third small jars of jelly.

The part jar has already been eaten!

Garden activities

The weekend was meant to be full of garden activities- planting, planting out and generally moving things around. Unfortunately the weather decided not to cooperate so I took refuge inside with some crafty activities instead.

A few activities from the week before:

The tomatoes went outside into a bed next to the path. A large sheet of plastic left over from a totally unrelated project is acting as a temporary greenhouse/cloche.

A blackberry bush has been added to the fruit area. I am hoping this will produce some tasty berries as I was in two minds about buying a cultivated blackberry plant, after all they are available for free but somehow I seem to miss the best ones. Plus I know these have not been peed on by passing dogs, and as an added bonus- thornless!

Finally the easiest sort of gardening, the bits that take care of themselves. Apart from a little bit of weaving through the trellis this rose bush has been largely ignored (possibly why the other bushes have died!?). Last week it burst into a very impressive display and it looks like there will be more to come in another week or so.