Strawberry Jam Recipe

It seems to be a kitchen weekend :-) Went to get braai supplies at P'nP just now and found strawberries at a price that made it reasonable enough to make some jam... and, like they say, let's make hay while the sun shines! It's one of the easiest things to make that create a real WOW factor - home-made jam on scones, fresh bread, etc just can't be beaten!

 Stawberry Jam:

1kg strawberries

1kg sugar

1 apple, grated

1/4 cup lemon juice

• Big saucepan
• Wooden spoon with a long handle (this is very important as the jam spits unbelieveably hot bubbles which stick to your skin when they come in contact... watch out for your face over the pot too!)
• Sterilised Jam jars

Clean and quarter the strawberries. Put all the ingredients in the pot over a low heat. Simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring to the boil stirring constantly. Cook the jam until it reaches wrinkle stage (put a saucer in the freezer when you start the process. When you think the jam is ready, put a little on the ice-cold saucer. if you can pull your finger through the mixture without the jam running back together, your jam is done. The surface of the jam wrinkles as you pull your finger through it.)

Bottle the jam in hot, sterilised jars. Clean the rims of the jar with a clean cloth before putting the lids on loosely whilst still very hot. Makes 6 X 230ml jars.

Strawberry plan

It's time to plant out the strawberries which have been carefully looked after in their seedling trays (all of the established plants had to be taken out of the garden beds as the chickens eat the leaves and scratch them clean out of the soil when they're looking for grubs and taking a sand bath!) There are still about 30 strawberry plants in pots and troughs that for some reason have decided it's time to start making fruit... I'm so sure this is way too early and as a result of the very warm winter weather we've had in Cape Town. Holding thumbs that it doesn't negatively affect the plants through their proper friut season!

I have been racking my brain for weeks now as to where and how to plant out the new plants... I can buy hanging and wall baskets from the wholesaler but at a great cost (you have to spend a minimum of R2000 which is one hell of a lot of strawberries that could be bought at Woolies at R40 per punnet!!!). I have some in troughs at the moment which work quite well and am trying to get my very able and generally willing dad to build a stand for them so they can be off the ground (that is, away from the chicken's beaks and claws!) and into a better sunlight position... But this only solves the problem of the strawberries already in their "final home" :-)

We had a guest to visit last weekend who came to see the chickens (I am very proud and tell everyone about them!), when he saw all of the strawberry plants in trays he suggested building an A-frame and attaching plastic gutters all down both sides to put the plants into as they don't need very deep beds and the narrowness of the guttering means that the berries will grow over the side and not lie on the soil... I love the idea!!! I unfortunately don't have enough space to use an A-frame but I've spent the weekend identifying potential walls that I can attach multiple gutters to. I've checked to see how much direct sun these walls receive as well as the visual impact of having gutters on said walls.

I have a great big wall that can have 4m long gutters and if I space the plants 20cm apart I can fit 18-20 plants in a level. This should deal with the 150 plants waiting to be planted out! I feel like this is a success already ;-) Tomorrow's task is to buy guttering from the hardware store , put ends on, drill holes in the bottom for drainage and attach them to the wall. Tuesday is reserved for planting out of all plants. Smiles all round! I can't wait for summer and yummy fruit and Jam and Daquiries and, and, and!!