This time of year is spent canning, freezing and generally preserving the harvest we’ve worked so hard to create.  I also scout out deals on produce at the local markets to fill in what I don’t grow.  Apples are a prime example of this.  We will head down to Portland, OR for our annual trip to Portland Nursery’s apple tasting and come home with hoards of apples that will need to be made into applesauce.

Another bit of fruit I happen to have an excess of is Black Currants.  Somehow I got talked into planting a Black Currant bush in our garden despite having no clue what to do with the actual currants.  The first year we had a small little crop that the birds ate.  The next year I got a slightly larger crop that I picked and then let go bad in the refrigerator.  Last year I grew quite a decent crop and made sure to rescue the harvest before the birds had their fill.  I managed to freeze that batch.  This year was much the same, only my yield was huge.  Well, if you consider 1 lb. 10 oz. huge.  After all, it is one small currant bush.

I carefully picked off all of the stems and flower end bits and froze the berries on a sheet pan so they didn’t stick together.  I did the same with the Blueberries we gathered from Blueberry Park.

Yesterday I had grand intentions of making a grand batch of mixed berry jam with the blueberries, black currants, strawberries (from the freezer) and the blackberries my son and I picked.  Sadly, I didn’t get to the blackberries before the fruit flies and mold did.  That left me with one less berry.  I didn’t think that strawberry/blueberry/black currant jam sounded all that delightful (not that adding blackberries would have made much of a difference) so I scrapped the strawberries.  They are now thawing in the fridge and hopefully I can get back up the hill to get a fresh batch of blackberries.

I did some looking for what to do with blueberries and black currants and oddly enough it was mentioned that they can make a nice jam if mixed together.  Might as well.

My pantry is in a state of disarray and I’m short on a few things.  Sugar happens to be one of them.  I only had about 1/2 of the sugar I needed, but somehow it worked out.

Blueberry Black Currant Jam

(These are the weights I had to work with)

2 lbs. Black Currants
3 lbs. Blueberries
1 1/2 lbs. sugar
little over 8 ounces of water
1 whole cinnamon stick

Combine the water, sugar and cinnamon stick in a large pot. Heat over medium heat to dissolve the sugar. Add berries (fresh or previously frozen). Cook fruit down until it is syrupy. I let mine go about 2 hours. Remove cinnamon stick and mash the remaining whole fruit. I put the mixture through a foley mill with the largest size screed on. Transfer the mixture back into the pot to keep warm.

Sterilize 12-13 4oz. jars. I do this by washing them thoroughly in hot soapy water and then placing them open side down in a skillet of simmering water for 10-15 minutes. Bring a small pan of water to a boil and then turn it off. Put the clean lids in the pan. Heat a large canning pot of water to a rolling boil. Remove the jars from the skillet and dry with a clean towel. Fill the jars with the hot jam mixture. Leave about 1/4″ of head space and run a small spatula around in the jar to remove any air. Clean the rim of the jar with a clean wash cloth and place a lid and ring on each jar. I can fit about 6 jars in my canning pot so I only do 6 at a time. Put the jars in the boiling water (using a jar lifter) and process for 10 minutes. Remove jars from boiling water and place on a towel on the counter to cool. The jars have sealed correctly if the lids get sucked in.

I happened to only do 12 jars and had enough left over to fill another 9 ounce jar. I could have processed that one too, but I just put it in the refrigerator to enjoy now. The jam is not super thick, but more like a fruit preserve spread. It tastes delicious on toast.