Jam selling season is in full on mode! My youngest son accompanied me to the Aspinwall flea market last Sunday and he was quite the salesman! I don't know why but he loved the flea market and now wants to go every week, hey I am not going to argue with him! The weather has been cooperating and, despite the rabbits, my strawberries are coming in beautifully! This is going to sound a wee bit Pollyana but here it goes, I love my strawberry patch and it makes me so happy! The blackberries look like they are going to pop out all over the place, I have a lot of white flowers which means future berries. We are still trying to grow grapes and blueberries but those plants are young and will take some time to mature. It does give us something to look forward to!

I am so grateful to my customers from last summer who have returned. One of the first Sundays some folks came with about 5 jars from last year! So great! I love reusing the jars and being able to give folks a discount for bringing them back. Thrifty and environmentally friendly!
This business is truly a blessing and, at least today, I am so happy I started a small business. I am grateful to everyone who has not only bought my jam but to those who took time to try it and to give me their input. I look forward to meeting more future jam lovers and fulfilling all your jam needs!

Welcome jam lovers and those of you who are just curious to see what I am up to, now! I am very excited about letting the word out about my business via blog.
Last week I had an experience I had been looking forward to all summer (and yes I realize it is now fall). I was finally able to go berry picking on a farm! I love to berry pick because I find it to be a very zen-like experience. Now that my kids are bigger I usually go alone and take the time to just sort of veg out and think about nothing other than, "Get the next berry." I love to pick fall raspberries because it is like an extra treat, just when you think all the best summer fruits are over, "ta da! " Red and Gold Raspberries appear in late July like they come out of a heaven sent fruit dream! I know, a little dramatic. I think I love them and the picking of them, so much because I dread the end of summer. The older I get the more seasons are not nearly as appealing as they used to be. I hate winter. I hate watching my outdoor crops turn dry and go stagnant for the rest of the season. I get the whole circle of life thing I just wish we could skip the sleet, dark foreboding days and the snow. The Raspberries are like the last hurrah of summer.

Golden Raspberries are not readily available so it is really fun to make them into jam. I am always surprised when people mention that they have never seen them before. Mrs. Snyder (no, not my Mom), owner of Snyders' Farm in Chicora, told me that the popularity of Raspberries are in this sequence: Blackberries, Black Raspberries, Red Raspberries and then the Golden Raspberries. I was surprised by this because I always thought Red Raspberries would have the most fans. I would choose the Golden ones purely because of their underdog status. They also are an absolute gorgeous color when they are ripe, so it even more fun to pick them. Maybe the idea of standing in the hot Indian Summer sun while having your hands dyed red and getting your legs all scratched up only to come home with buckets overflowing so you can stand in a hot kitchen making jar after jar of jam does not sound like a swell time to you, but to me that is the perfect way to end the summer!
I will still be making jam at least until the end of October! Feel free to contact me to find out how to get the best jam in town!