Came downstairs just in time to see the boys destroy the blackberry bushes. I am sure they will grow back next year, but I guess that's the end of my jam-making empire... for now at least. Took this from the kitchen window.
Sniffle. Murderers.
Posted at 18:39 PM
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Sniffle. Murderers.
Posted at 18:39 PM
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20/08: Slaves at work..
Ok ok I should be studying but I couldn't help it. Jeff has roped poor Wassim to do some garden work, and here they are - both pruning the hedges. I took this photo from my bedroom window.
Notice the runner beans on the wigwam tent on the left with their pretty red flowers.
I am almost sick of runner beans by now, although they are mighty nice and fresh. But try eating them every day for the last two weeks... and Jeff's too stingy to give em to the neighbours. Maybe its cos it was his own hard work, sweat and toil. Well, I put in as much "work".. of the supervisory and naggory kind
.
Ok back to the grind.
Posted at 17:37 PM
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Notice the runner beans on the wigwam tent on the left with their pretty red flowers.
I am almost sick of runner beans by now, although they are mighty nice and fresh. But try eating them every day for the last two weeks... and Jeff's too stingy to give em to the neighbours. Maybe its cos it was his own hard work, sweat and toil. Well, I put in as much "work".. of the supervisory and naggory kind
.Ok back to the grind.
Posted at 17:37 PM
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Our garden is absolutely beautiful - we have wild blackberries growing round the back, where the Wendy house used to be (Wendy house is a kiddy's play house). Jeff tore it down, along with the fruit trees that were a breeding ground for wasps.
Anyway, we have a LOAD of blackberries, and we went a-pickin the other day, braving the evil thorns ripping our fingers and tearing our lily-white dainty skins to shreds, although you can't see it in the photos. With the help of my berry slaves, Jeff and Wassim, we harvested one "punnet" a couple of days ago (I have since harvested another batch - about 900g worth).
Here is slave Jeff daintily picking the ripe black berries. What courage! Braving the diabolical stinging thorns to harvest the fiddly things.
Here is slave Wassim reaching for that elusive fruit near the fence, almost falling headlong into the bush of thorny prickles. All for a few jars of blackberry jam!
This was how much we got - although we squished a few, and some went into my mouth.
And this is what became of them - perfect Blackberry Jam!
It was really easy to make the jam too - all you need is Jam Sugar, say from Silver Spoon and the berries. We couldn't find any in Tesco or Sainsbury, but finally got a pack from Asda. 1kg of sugar and about 900g of berries does the job.
I just followed the instructions on the label. Took out four jars I had, stuck them in the dishwasher to be washed and sterilised and popped them in the oven while I made the jam.
It's dead easy.
Home Made Blackberry Jam
1. You moosh the berries with a potatoe masher (900g fruit makes about 800g moosh fruit).
2. Pour the whole pack of sugar in. Turn on slow fire and stir until sugar dissolves.
3. Once that's done, add a knob of butter and turn the fire up.
4. Soon as it hits rolling boil - time for 4 minutes
5. Turn off fire and pour hot jam into jars and close tight.
6. Put in cupboard.
7. Jump with glee and tell everybody you've just made your first home made jam with home grown black berries. I did!
I had them for tea this afternoon and they were luuvvverly. Gave a jar to Wassim's boss, and one to Madeline. The last jar I will give to Mark and Federica - as they are back from Italy. We should go visit them this weekend to see Alice.
Anyhoo. I couldn't have done it without the help of my trusty Berry Slaves, as my fingers are now bloody stumps after losing the fight with the blackberry shrubs. I am typing with my nose, and it has taken me a good 5 hours to type up this blog.
Bow to me, and my superior jam making abilities!
Posted at 00:14 AM
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Anyway, we have a LOAD of blackberries, and we went a-pickin the other day, braving the evil thorns ripping our fingers and tearing our lily-white dainty skins to shreds, although you can't see it in the photos. With the help of my berry slaves, Jeff and Wassim, we harvested one "punnet" a couple of days ago (I have since harvested another batch - about 900g worth).
Here is slave Jeff daintily picking the ripe black berries. What courage! Braving the diabolical stinging thorns to harvest the fiddly things.
Here is slave Wassim reaching for that elusive fruit near the fence, almost falling headlong into the bush of thorny prickles. All for a few jars of blackberry jam!
This was how much we got - although we squished a few, and some went into my mouth.
And this is what became of them - perfect Blackberry Jam!
It was really easy to make the jam too - all you need is Jam Sugar, say from Silver Spoon and the berries. We couldn't find any in Tesco or Sainsbury, but finally got a pack from Asda. 1kg of sugar and about 900g of berries does the job.
I just followed the instructions on the label. Took out four jars I had, stuck them in the dishwasher to be washed and sterilised and popped them in the oven while I made the jam.
It's dead easy.
Home Made Blackberry Jam
1. You moosh the berries with a potatoe masher (900g fruit makes about 800g moosh fruit).
2. Pour the whole pack of sugar in. Turn on slow fire and stir until sugar dissolves.
3. Once that's done, add a knob of butter and turn the fire up.
4. Soon as it hits rolling boil - time for 4 minutes
5. Turn off fire and pour hot jam into jars and close tight.
6. Put in cupboard.
7. Jump with glee and tell everybody you've just made your first home made jam with home grown black berries. I did!
I had them for tea this afternoon and they were luuvvverly. Gave a jar to Wassim's boss, and one to Madeline. The last jar I will give to Mark and Federica - as they are back from Italy. We should go visit them this weekend to see Alice.
Anyhoo. I couldn't have done it without the help of my trusty Berry Slaves, as my fingers are now bloody stumps after losing the fight with the blackberry shrubs. I am typing with my nose, and it has taken me a good 5 hours to type up this blog.
Bow to me, and my superior jam making abilities!
Posted at 00:14 AM
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We are currently growing three sorts of vegetable in our garden - tomatoes, courgettes and runner beans - all fruiting madly. The tomatoes are just about to turn red, and the three which have done have been scoffed down already.
We have a huge bumper crop of runner beans (and Jeff is all bean'ed out) and the courgettes grew to monster-like proportions, almost becoming marrows. Anyway, we got back from Barcelona to a mountain of vege, so I decided to make something out of it.
Stuffed marrow au gratin and stir fry runner beans. Yummm
. Can't have too much though, because of the cheese and butter, but Wassim helped us to finish it off.
What shall we have tonight? Methinks stir fry sambal runner beans with fishball and rice.
Bah, am supposed to be studying... have told IBT (my company) that I was upgrading my SQL certifications, and have yet to do so... so, I booked the Admin exam 070-228 for this coming Monday (5 days away) and the design exam 070-229 two weeks after that. I should be swotting, but took a break. Ok enough of a break now, back to studying. Bah I say.
Posted at 14:22 PM
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We have a huge bumper crop of runner beans (and Jeff is all bean'ed out) and the courgettes grew to monster-like proportions, almost becoming marrows. Anyway, we got back from Barcelona to a mountain of vege, so I decided to make something out of it.
Stuffed marrow au gratin and stir fry runner beans. Yummm
. Can't have too much though, because of the cheese and butter, but Wassim helped us to finish it off. What shall we have tonight? Methinks stir fry sambal runner beans with fishball and rice.
Bah, am supposed to be studying... have told IBT (my company) that I was upgrading my SQL certifications, and have yet to do so... so, I booked the Admin exam 070-228 for this coming Monday (5 days away) and the design exam 070-229 two weeks after that. I should be swotting, but took a break. Ok enough of a break now, back to studying. Bah I say.
Posted at 14:22 PM
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