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| Farmyard from south field |
Mike
and I were hiking behind the farmhouse (he called it bird-hunting) on Saturday
(Nov. 10), when we were surprised to see lovely clumps of elderberries still clinging
to the branches of the bushes, now mostly bare of leaves. I could tell that
Mike wanted me to make more jelly. He suggested I return to the farmyard for
the picking equipment, but I explained that I would be unable to accomplish the picking by myself. The accessibility of the berries is deceptive. Once you find
solid footing under the bush, the berries are very high. And you know how it is
– the best fruit is always at the very top of the tree.
I
did go back to the house, though, and took the interior photos. As soon as Mike
returned, we took a bucket and our hook and headed back to the elderberry
bushes. I let him negotiate the bank while I stayed above on the edge of the
field. The ground had thawed enough to be muddy and slick, and as it was, I slipped and
nearly fell. Mike pulled the branches down with the hook and tugged at the
berry clumps, catching many of them in the bucket. 
We
were back at the town house by early afternoon. Now, I
consider just the trip to the farm and back enough for one day, but I dutifully
set to work removing stems and cleaning the berries. We estimated we had about
ten pounds of berries in the bucket, which translated to six quarts cleaned and
ready to cook, and from that I got 8+ cups of juice – enough for two batches of
straight elderberry jelly and a third of elder/apple. 
I
put off making the jelly until Sunday. I have to be especially organized when I
make jelly by myself. I also lack the proper equipment here in town, but I made
do with one stock pot and a Dutch oven. I only burned myself twice and broke
one jar as I lowered it into the stock pot for processing. I suspect it was
cracked. The process stopped as I cleaned the kettle, took care of the broken
glass, and then re-heated the water.
In
the end, I had 14 half-pint jars of elderberry jelly. The third batch I
stretched with plain old Safeway apple juice and it turned out fine. With the
October batches, I added apple juice concentrate, and the set was firmer than I
like.
I’m
always saying that I have no idea what I did the last time, and that's not a problem for me. I just muddle through again. But I guess it bothers Mike that I'm not more systematic, and he insisted that this time I make notes on my recipe sheet
before filing it. As I wiped down the stove and kitchen cabinets the next day, I could hear my mother say, "You have to clean the kitchen after you make jelly. It splashes everywhere." KW
4 comments:
Yes, it seems that making jams and jelly (although I only make jam) does make the whole kitchen sticky. I think I've said this before, but I think you are amazing, doing all the work to make jelly.
LOL -- and elderberry jelly at that! Mike tasted some that my dad made and he was hooked. Nick and Hallie like it. But some folks don't care for it. Someone once told me that it's so close to grape jelly that it's not worth the effort. Another friend said she preferred serviceberry.
I've gotten used to the process, but when I first started it was a challenge. Mike brought elderberries home one year with the expectation that I would make jelly. I complained to the kids, and they told him that I didn't want to make the jelly. Well, it was true. Today, I enjoy the novelty of it. The sisters look for it at the P.E.O. silent auction. But I will say that the availability of more berries took me by surprise last weekend. The jelly-making preempted two days of sewing.
Well, I pretty much like all jams and jelly, except for grape jam. Those big hunks of grape peel leave me grossed out. And leave it to kids to tell all!! That made me laugh. Glad you enjoy it now. And hopefully you're back into sewing!
I can't pick fruit AND make jelly in the same day. The picking is tiring on its own and Nick has a lot of stamina/motivation for a big haul. It's good to process the berries and make the juice right away, though. Delicate fruit can go bad very quickly. We lost a thimble berry batch one year because it molded overnight. That was very disappointing.
I'm glad to know this year's batch is good! I'm sure Dad's pressing for you to write it down is his strong endorsement of your work.
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