Jam time!

Marino & Elide make honey, jam, and liquors to serve their guests for breakfast and dinner, and then sell the excess. Unfortunately, all of their bees are dead! Something is killing them. It’s hard to catch all of the details because our hosts are not speaking in their native language, but I understand that their bee issue is a global problem. Marino will buy a new family of bees in the spring, but for now it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any beekeeping experience.

BUT we’ve already made a few batches of jam. It was a very dry summer and now it’s a cold fall, so the fruit isn’t too abundant around here, but we’ve picked the last batches of blackberries and figs for the year and turned them into delicious jam. Here’s how.

We picked the yummy blackberries from the area surrounding our hosts’ property.

We picked the yummy figs from the fig tree in the yard.

A huge amount of sugar and pectin was added to the fruit, and brought to a boil until the mixture was more viscous.

The preserves were poured into jars, capped by Marino (only he knows exactly when to stop turning the lids), and placed upside down for a few minutes.

Tada!

This is the shelf of jams and honey for sale. We’re told that it’s usually very full by the end of the summer, but this year it’s pretty empty. L