We grow Evergreen Huckleberries wild on our land – they grow well on the islands in the Pacific Northwest. Our work on our land has in fact led to a huge surge in plants, due to the thinning of the forests (for tree health). Now the huckleberries get what they need: sunlight and rain water. When they grow in deep forest they will grow to as high as 20 feet (sometimes taller) to seek out sunshine. They don’t bloom though. That happens on the edge of the forest. This year was a good crop, across all our acres. As a refernce, if you can grow Madrona (Madrone) Trees, you will find Evergreen Huckleberry nearby. They do NOT like wet feet, and seek out drier and rocky land. We live around 135 feet above sea level so have drier land, and are in the Olympic Rainshadow.

Evergreen Huckleberries are tiny. Picking them is a hands on harvest, and it takes a lot of time. I often pick in batches, till my fingers are stained, and I am tired. I freeze them, on cookie sheets, then transfer them to bags. Come Fall, when I have time, I pull them out and sort them frozen – picking out any unripe ones, and stems.

The berries range from glossy jet black, to frosted denim blue. It depends on where the plant is growing and how much sun they get. Size also varies, from tiny to nearly blueberry size. Again..how much sun and water they receive plays into it. The crop starts ripening in late August till first frost in early November kills them. Hard rains can wreck a crop if it gets blasted. But the ones with more protection tend to survive.

This batch of jam takes around 12 cups berries. So this is a labor of love to make seedless jam. So why seedless? Huckleberries have tiny seeds and I am not the biggest fans of them. So I extract the juice and thick pulp. It’s not jelly. It is jam. Just seedless!

Huckleberry Seedless Jam

Ingredients:

• 4 cups mashed and strained huckleberries, measured after straining*
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (1 large heavy lemon)
• 2 tsp calcium water**
• 1 cup honey
• 2 tsp Pomona’s Pectin

Directions:

Add mason jars into a water bath canner. Fill jars with water and the pot about halfway. Bring to a boil.

Add the bands and new lids to a small saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a simmer, turn off.

Measure the honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into the honey. Set aside.

Bring the mashed huckleberries, lemon juice and calcium water to a boil in a large stainless steel or non-reactive pot.

Add pectin-honey mix, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.

Stir well, and return to a full boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.

Drain canning jars, place on a clean kitchen towel. Sterilize ladle and funnel using the boiling water in the canning kettle.

Fill hot jars to ¼” from top. Wipe rims clean with a new damp paper towel. Place a drained lid on each jar, screw band on finger tight.

Place filled jars in canning pot, lower rack in. Make sure the jars are covered with water. Bring to a boil, and maintain boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level).

Remove jars from water. Let jars cool on a clean kitchen towel. Remove bands and wash, check seals on jars; lids should be sucked down.

Consume within 1 year, once opened eat within 3 weeks. Jam should sit for a few days/week before eating, as Pomona jelly/jam can take a bit longer to fully set up.

Made 5 8-ounce jars.

Notes:

You can use whatever size mason jars you have on hand. I used 5 8-ounce jars.

*If berries are frozen, rinse and thaw in a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher as good as you can. Then press the mess through a fine mesh stainer. I used a spoon to gently press against the wall of the metal strainer. I repeat the pulp mashing twice, to extract as much as I can. I don’t use a berry bag to do this, as you won’t get any pulp.

**To make the calcium water, follow the directions in the Pomona package. It is the smaller of the two packets in the box. It keep nearly forever once mixed with water in your refrigerator.

~Sarah

Fall is coming, and the tomatoes are ripening like crazy. I was outside picking the other morning in the smoke from the wildfires, that was choking, but I didn’t want to lose any produce. I pulled a ton of Walla Walla onions and green bell peppers along with many pounds of tomatoes, and got busy chopping. This is a hearty salsa, but give it a few weeks after canning, so it has time to mellow the flavors.

Farm Salsa

Ingredients:

• 7 cups chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped seeded green bell pepper
• 8 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
• 3 large cloves garlic
• 5.5 ounce can tomato paste
• ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup finely chopped dry cilantro (or parsley)
• salt to taste

Directions:

Add 5 pint canning jars to a canning pot. Fill jars with water, and the pot about halfway with water, bring to a boil, then let simmer.

Add lids and rings to a small pot filled with water, bring to a simmer.

Add all ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat, simmer for 30 minutes. Taste for salt, adding if needed.

Drain jars into canning pot, place on a clean kitchen towel. Ladle the hot salsa into the bars, using a sterilized canning funnel. Leave a ½” headspace. Run a chopstick or canning bubble popper in each jar, add more salsa if there is room.

Dip a clean paper towel in hot water, then run around the top of each jar. Place a lid on each jar, then a band, screw on finger tight.

Turn canner up to high, place jars in water bath rack, lower rack into water. Water should cover by 1 – 2″, if not add a bit more from the pot that held the rings. Bring to a rolling boil, covered, process for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, let sit for 5 minutes with lid off. Carefully remove jars, placing on a clean dry kitchen towel to cool.

Once cooled, check again that seals are down. Gently remove bands (wash, dry, and store), note on jar or lid what is in jar with a date. Store in a dry/cool/dark area and use within a year.

As always, if you ever go to use a canned item and the lid is not sealed anymore, or bulging, discard it immediately!

Makes 5 pint jars.

*I use a variety of tomatoes. Salsa is a great way to use up lots of cherry tomatoes. I don’t peel my tomatoes. If I am using large ones, I do core. Small ones I do not. I use a manual food chopper to quickly chop all the ingredients.

~Sarah

Salsa for when the gardens are overflowing, and you want a jalapeno based salsa that makes your mouth happy. And to stash it in the pantry for those long cold nights in winter…..

Jalapeno Salsa

Ingredients:

• 10 cups chopped tomatoes
• 5 cups chopped seeded green bell peppers
• 5 cups chopped onions
• 2½ cups jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
• 1¼ cups apple cider vinegar
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped dry cilantro or parsley
• 1 Tbsp salt

Directions:

Add 7 pint canning jars to a canning pot. Fill jars with water, and the pot about halfway with water, bring to a boil, then let simmer.

Add lids and rings to a small pot filled with water, bring to a simmer.

Add all ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil over high. Reduce heat to medium-high, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Taste for salt, adding if needed.

Drain jars into canning pot, place on a clean kitchen towel. Ladle the hot salsa into the bars, using a sterilized canning funnel. Leave a ½” headspace. Run a chopstick or canning bubble popper in each jar, add more salsa if there is room.

Dip a clean paper towel in hot water, then run around the top of each jar. Place a lid on each jar, then a band, screw on finger tight.

Turn canner up to high, place jars in water bath rack, lower rack into water. Water should cover by 1 – 2″, if not add a bit more from the pot that held the rings. Bring to a rolling boil, covered, process for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, let sit for 5 minutes with lid off. Carefully remove jars, placing on a clean dry kitchen towel to cool.

Once cooled, check again that seals are down. Gently remove bands (wash, dry, and store), note on jar or lid what is in jar with a date. Store in a dry/cool/dark area and use within a year.

As always, if you ever go to use a canned item and the lid is not sealed anymore, or bulging, discard it immediately!

Makes 7 pint jars.

*I use a variety of tomatoes. Salsa is a great way to use up lots of cherry tomatoes. I don’t peel my tomatoes. If I am using large ones, I do core. Small ones I do not. I use a manual food chopper to quickly chop all the ingredients.

Depending on how juicy your tomatoes are, it may make actually up to 9 pints. I had a bit left over, and stashed it in the refrigerator to use within the week.

~Sarah

A quick recipe to get a winter’s worth of warming jam. Peaches are ripe right now and so tasty. My recipe used 8 peaches, how many you need will of course depend on size. Mine were average size, if you have the jumbo ones, it’ll take less. As for the lemon juice, I pick up 2 lemons to juice.

Peach Spice Honey Jam

Ingredients:

• 4 cups mashed ripe peaches (see below)
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 cup honey**
• 3 tsp Pomonas Universal Pectin
• 4 tsp calcium water (see below*)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• Pinch ground cloves

Directions:

*To make the calcium water, mix ½ tsp calcium (the small packet) with ½ cup water in a small canning jar, shake till dissolved, refrigerate for later use. There are multiple batches of jam with one box of Pomonas.

Jars & Lids –

Wash and rinse the jars; put them in a canner, cover the jars with water and bring to a boil.

Add the rings and lids to a small saucepan, cover with water, bring to a simmer.

For the peaches –

Rinse the peaches off. Peel, quarter and pit. Roughly chop and mash with a potato masher chunky-style, measure and then add to a large pot with the lemon juice and spices.

Add 4 teaspoons of the calcium water to the peaches, stir well.

For the honey & pectin –

Measure the honey into a separate bowl and thoroughly mix the 3 teaspoons pectin into it, set aside.

To Cook –

Bring the peach mixture to a boil, stirring often. Pour the pectin-honey mixture into the boiling jam slowly and carefully, stirring as you add. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin.

Let it return to a boil and remove from the heat. Pectin gels completely when thoroughly cool, so don’t worry if your jam looks loose while still hot (although this particular jam is pretty stiff).

To preserve –

Empty the water out of your jars, back into the canner, fill to ¼” of the top (a sterilized canning funnel works great). Wipe the rims with a new damp paper towel, removing any spilled jam, especially on the rim.

Place a lid on top and tighten a band around each jar, return to the canner. Make sure all jars are upright and that jars are fully submerged, with at least 2″ of water above.

Process for 10 minutes.

Place on a cooling rack covered in a clean towel, let cool. Remove the rings and wash/dry.

Label, store in a cool/dry area for up to a year.

Makes 6 8-ounce jars.

**Feel free to substitute 2 cups sugar for the honey.

~Sarah