Jam Making in Winter!!!!!

With the weather being so miserable outside, I often take the opportunity to do what I call “Inside jobs”.  You know the sort of thing, anything indoors which needs mending, rooms redecorated, cupboards cleared out.  The contents of the deep freeze is a good example, I have one shelf stacked with frozen soft fruit picked from the garden.  This frozen produce is used throughout the year in pies, crumbles and summer fruit puddings but just occasionally we have too much and by the beginning of the following year there is too much frozen fruit and not enough space.

 As you can see from the two photographs some frozen produce had been in the freezer for longer than I planned.  Once defrosted the fruit is safe to eat and to cook with. 

Not only did I have raspberries and tayberries which were grown and frozen in 2019 but I had frozen some blackberries in a plastic bag and failed to write a date on the bag. 

In our household, one of the food stuffs which I can guarantee will definitely get eaten is homemade jam and these three fruits will make a beautiful mixed berry jam.

Once defrosted I simply weigh the fruit including the liquid, make a note of the weight then tip it into the preserving pan; by the way I find it always defrosts to a semi solid/semi liquid state.

 

Then using a low heat the fruit and liquid is heated up and cooked through until the fruit is soft.

 Whatever the fruit and liquid weighed I then measure out an equal amount of preserving sugar.

I then add the preserving sugar to the cooked fruit and heat it over a gentle heat; I stir the jam mixture occasionally until all the sugar crystals have dissolved.  Once I am sure that no sugar crystals remain I turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil and boil it rapidly for about 5 – 7 minutes or until setting point is reached.

Lastly, I leave the jam to cool slightly, this gives me enough time to sterilise some preserving jars. I bottle the jam in the usual way and, of course, put wax discs on the surface to create a seal.

Delicious mixed berry jam to enjoy during the coming months – and a slightly emptier deep freeze.

Dreadful Weather but not in the Glasshouse

Here in Northumberland for the last three weeks we have had continuous torrential rain, gales and heavy snow fall.  The garden is sodden everywhere, it squelches when I walk to the guinea pig shed, even in the fruit cage where the ground is covered in a thick mulch of composted woody shreddings I can feel the ground is saturated.  I feel I really should be doing something horticulturally related in order to lift my spirits. Obviously doing anything outside is out of the question so I decided to sort out my glasshouse.  I do this annually generally in about April but this year I might as well to do it a bit earlier and I thought you might be interested to see what I do in order to maintain the plants in this artificial environment.

This gloomy picture taken from the bathroom window looking east doesn't inspire me to do anything except stay indoors.

  

Yes, I know, it looks quite a mess.  Dead leaves and fern fronds litter the floor; everything needs to be checked for signs of decay, dead leaves cut away and checking which plants need to go into bigger pots.

On the left near the door there is a fern, I’m not sure of its name but it’s been in that spot for a few years and it seems very happy, the dead and half dead foliage just needs to be trimmed off to make room for new growth.

Next I have two Vietnamese coriander plants which are still in the plastic pots they were in when I bought them from the garden centre.  Apparently they are very vigorous, so they just need to go into bigger pots with fresh compost. I bought these because of their tropical appearance but I should really try using them in cooking.

Next is Zantedeschia, only a few straggly leaves need attention. 

This is one of many small Musella lasiocarpas I have (hardy Golden Lotus banana).  Again dead leaves are removed and they are checked to see if any roots are bursting out of the bottom, if so into a bigger pot they go.

As you can see from this picture Hedychium aurantiacum has outgrown its pot – so needs repotting.

This Eletaria cardamomum, bought from Edinburgh Botanic Garden a few years ago, needs a trim and it’s good enough to go back in the border.

Not so for the Monstera deliciosa, as you can see its roots are badly congested, a few minutes later and a happy plant.

This corner is jam packed - in the front there is a potted Geranium maderense, which I brought in for the winter as in previous years I’ve lost them. 

Behind is a Bougainvillea in winter dormancy, also in this group of pots is an avocado which I grew from seed and at the back on the far right is a Cestrum elegans and an abulilton.

This rabbits foot fern (Davallia canariensis) is growing quite happily in a large plastic aquatic basket, I find these pots are ideal for aerial plants. 

Underneath there is another fern growing through a painted bamboo seat.

Both ferns look a whole lot better after a haircut.

After I had finished the glasshouse was tidy and every plant looked a whole lot better.  All that was left to do was to cover all exposed compost with Strulch.  I find Strulch deters slugs and snails from damaging the plants; it also helps the soil retain moisture.