One thing about cold and gonna get cold for gardeners/farmers is you get caught up on reading and maintenance. Unless of course you have hoop houses and high tunnels, I don't know when y'all read or maintain anything.
So I am catching up on reading. I love periodicals; newspapers, trade papers, magazines, newsletters, etc. I am a bit older and haven't gotten used to digital reading, or blogs. I do like dog-earing and underlining and tearing out and holding - ironic that I blog, huh? Guess that is why I have four followers.
Any who, just finished reading a great article in Urban Farm July/August 2011 on Freezer Jam. What a cool concept. No cooking, just mashing and mixing and freezing or refrigerating. Sugar, instant fruit pectin, and fruit. Mash, mix, jar, and freeze for up to 1 year or use immediately from the 'fridge out to three weeks. I'm not super aware of copyright laws and in the interest of not stepping on toes go get the magazine or look up your own recipes.
Fresh fruit, you control sugar content and bingo, bango yummy spreads, ice-cream toppings, or yogurt infusions or whatever your creative mind can come up with.
I am always looking for ways to save my bounty. I have yet to learn how to can or hot jam. I do freeze and I do dry. The cool thing is that you can use fruit you have frozen in lieu of fresh - how about that for looking for some summer goodness in February!
Because I like to read and folks always ask what I want for Christmas or my b-day, I ask for subscriptions for the holidays and birthdays. If you like periodicals like me, here are some of my favorites you might consider asking for; Urban Farm (they have others in the series), Organic Gardening, Delmarva Farmer and Mid-Atlantic Grower (www.americanfarm.com), and Grit magazine. There are other good ones out there, visit a newsstand to try a few on.
Happy reading!
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