Raspberries and Peas

I have to admit that we don't often use fresh peas in recipes or for freezing. Why? Well, the reason why is that we pretty much eat what pick. There is nothing like fresh peas from the garden. Mmmm! I can't believe how much everything has grown this year, especially peas. Here in UT June was unseasonably rainy and cool. I only had to water my garden once in the month of June. It has been so nice. I staked my peas up as usual, but to my surprise they grew twice as high and ended up toppling over in a big mound. It's no problem really. I just have to hunt a little better, but hunting for fruits and veggies is one of my favorite things.

Raspberries - I have a confession to make. Do not throw rocks. I don't like many fruits because of the texture, however I love growing and canning them. Am I crazy? We've had a lot of rasberries so far this year, but my husband and daughter have been eating them almost as much as I can pick them. I'm finally getting enough berries that I might be able to make some things with them.

First thing I will make is raspberry jam. Be really nice and kind to me because I like to give away raspberry jam, and raspberry honeybutter. I also have a good recipes for things made with berries that I'll post when I finally get enough berries to make things out of them.

Jam - For those of you who haven't made jam before it's actually quite simple. Freezer jam is especially easy to make. If you are going to process the jam you will need canning jars, however if you are making freezer jam all you need are any kind of freezable containers. Freezer jam does not need to be processed, and you can store it in your freezer for a year. The most important thing you need (besides berries of course) is this:

The brand doesn't matter much, but you do need fruit pectin. If you are doing raspberries you will need 3 cups of crushed raspberries. It's very important you don't double jam raspberries, because the pectin won't turn out right and you will end up with runny jam. I think by tomorrow I will have enough to start making my jam. I of course need to make sure I have enough to make the jam, and enough for my husband and daughter to eat for the day :)

If you want a great canning and freezing website, this one is one of my favorites: http://pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm