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| Blueberry |
I've never been particularly fond of blueberries and was never really interested in growing them, but I acquired a couple of scrawny little potted plants from a friend who was moving several years ago. I can't really remember when, as I plopped them into an inconvenient spot and promptly ignored them. I lost one plant that winter and the other has managed to tenaciously hang on for the past three years. It blooms every year, and does manage to set a few scraggly berries that the mockingbirds seem to enjoy. For the most part I forget that it is sitting next to the corner of the shed, except when a wayward branch snags my sleeve as I brush by on the path. Somehow, it has managed to finally achieve some height and is now taller than I am.
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| Blueberry Jam |
I guess with it's new stature, it has gained confidence, as this year it set quite a bit of fruit. So much so, that I was able to pick about four cups and as luck would have it, a neighbor dropped by with another couple of quarts of fruit, so I had absolutely no excuse as to not to do something with it. I really didn't want to mess with a pie and so decided to try some blueberry jam or jelly. I had gotten the Ball Blue Book last season before the box store sold out of it yet again; and checked out the jam recipe on page 32. Bingo! I had the limes, the sugar, the pectin and all those empty jelly jars were just screaming to be filled. So I cleaned, and picked, and crushed and boiled and stirred and poured and then capped and boiled and ended up with 12 little jars. Delicious!
