Frontier Dreams: We're Jammin'

Thursday, August 25, 2011

We're Jammin'

Blackberry season is in full effect... just look at our latest walk results! There is just something so wonderful about foraging out in nature for food. The fact that it is free doesn't hurt, either.

To add to the berry goodness we've been enjoying - last week we went blueberry picking with our new friends. They took us to the sweetest little U-pick farm hidden away in plain view (I love places like that). The girls wore their ~~strawberry~~ berry picking dresses.

We picked, we chatted, we snacked, we picked some more...

The farm's cat/tour guide kept us company.

We enjoyed a little picnic taking in the beautiful scenery as the girls caught grasshoppers, played games and flew wooden planes.

We checked out the rest of the farm for inspiration.
Then after spending almost the whole day there it was time to go pick up Kevin from work.

But I got distracted on the way there and stopped to photograph the beauty around us.

Baby L and C fell asleep on the drive so K and I played in the van while waiting for Kevin to get out of work.

Once we were home it was time to extend our summer by freezing and jamming our berries. By the way, I have to agree with all of you the Pomonas Universal Pectin works so much better for canning with out sugar!

We are in a state of pure berry bliss and we hope you are, too!

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jumbleberryjam 58p · 710 weeks ago

Ooo, tell me what magic you're conjuring here...just fresh berries - straight from the field - put in jars and frozen? That's all I have to do to get berries in winter without jammin'? Would you be willing to share your blackberry foraging spot with us if we drove down on Sunday or Monday? ;-)

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago

;)

We froze them on a tray first and then put them in the jar so they wouldn't stick together.

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heirloomseasons 43p · 710 weeks ago

Oh I am so happy for you and all your jars of jam and berries! Hmm, I wonder if I should give in and try the store bought pectin, though I feel mostly inclined to make our own...
So much beauty all around. Don't you just love going about the countryside admiring barns and old buildings?
Those last photos of K are probably the most beautiful of all though. Goodness, she is looking a bit grown up!
Love to you XOXOXOX

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Lynnette · 710 weeks ago

I bought some Pomonas Universal Pectin too and made raspberry jam. I have some blackberries from the u-pick farm I need to get jammin' too.

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Brandy · 710 weeks ago

We love foraging for wild foods, too. I picked a pint of blueberries last night and am mulling over what to do with them today. It looks like you all had such fun!

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MackenzieH · 710 weeks ago

Oh how lovely! I'm a bit envious of your nice long berry season! It's so hot here that we have a short season without any "pick your own" places around us. I've totally been living vicariously through you! I just wanted to let you know that I've really been enjoying your posts and I'm so glad to see you back here! Your blog is one of my regular morning stops...such a pretty way to start my day!

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago

We have been enoying how long the season is here, too :) So different than the season back in Virginia, that's for sure.

I am so honored to be one of your regular morning stops!! Thank you so much for letting me know that, it truly made my day.

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BoulderMomma · 710 weeks ago

i miss the blue berry fields! They just dont grow here in my high dry climate in Colorado. We do pick plenty of raspberries and blackberries though. Do you freeze in glass jars? How about liquids? I never had much success freezing in glass - it seems to want to break on me in our deep freeze. Any secrets? Ive lost so many things this way.

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago

We do freeze in glass jars -so far with success. Alas, I do not have any secrets, though - I am begining to wonder if I have just been lucky so far. I haven't tried liquids this way yet but it works well for our fresh fruits and veggies. We just put them in the freezer on a tray first and then put them in the jars. This way they don't stick to each other.

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Nahuatl Vargas · 710 weeks ago

I love blue berries, we don't have them her, but once a year or so I bought a little box to make a cake.
K looks so pretty on those pics!

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Indigo Inspirations · 710 weeks ago

What a lovely way to spend the day....we don't have anything like that where I live in Australia and our blueberries are sooooo expensive to buy....lucky you.

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Ellen · 710 weeks ago

Wish we could find free blackberries! My mom talks about a huge wild patch that she and her friend would visit (& be sent by their moms to visit) to bring back bucketfuls to their mothers for canning.

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago

I love those kinds of memories our parents have. My Mom told me that we had wild blackberries in the woods behind our house growing up. She said that my brother and I always wanted a blackberry pie so she would tell us to pick some and she'd make it. It never happened though because we always ate all the berries we picked before returning home!

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Kelly · 710 weeks ago

Reminds me of when I took Nathan strawberry picking for the first time this year!
http://www.creatingafamilyhome.com/2011/06/outdoo...

We love to forage, too. I picked about a million wild raspberries (okay, wineberries) and made jam with them this year for the first time. Foraging for berries is one of my favorite things about summer! Eating them is a close second. : )
http://www.creatingafamilyhome.com/2011/07/jewels...

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago

So fun! How was the jam??

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Karen · 710 weeks ago

Yes, blueberry bliss is such a wonderful spot to be.
Fun summer times.

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simona · 710 weeks ago

that's wonderful! love each photo, each moment!

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago

Thanks!

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Kory · 710 weeks ago

Beautiful pictures! We went to a blueberry u-pick last tuesday and came home with 45lbs! We froze them since our oldest will eat them that way all winter and we'll use them in smoothies. Blackberries are nest week!

1 reply · active 709 weeks ago

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FrontierDreams 111p · 709 weeks ago

Thank you! Wow!! 45 lbs - how heavenly! I think we only got about 10 pounds.

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Thank you for joining me here. My name is Nicole Spring AKA wife, Waldorf homeschooling Mama to four sweet little ones, homemaker of the radical kind, knitter, cook, seamstress, student of life as well as my children, crafter, girl of all trades... and always with a camera in hand to document our days so we may look back at these glorious yet exhausting times.

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