Stephanie and I woke up early on Saturday morning to drive out to Capay Valley for Farm Fresh To You’s spring farm tour and strawberry picking. I went by myself last year, my first tour of the farm, and had an absolute ball. Nothing compares to eating warm strawberries right off the stem. This year I had a mission: pick as many strawberries as I could, and use them to make homemade jam, something I’ve never done.

We were not alone

Showing off our strawberries

We each picked about 4-5 green containers worth

Last night I read up on how to make jam, and then this morning I went out to Rainbow Grocery to pick up 12 one pint canning jars, canning tongs, a canning funnel, sugar, and pectin, the fruit-based gelling agent. We then set to work stemming and washing the strawberries, mashing them, cooking them, and finally canning them. All told we made seven pints, three with very mashed strawberries, and four with less mashed strawberries, plus lemon juice and vanilla sugar.

Our new Kerr canning jars

Stephanie stemming strawberries

Five cups of mashed strawberries

Adding sugar and pectin to the boiling mashed strawberries

Funneling the jam into the jars

Boiling our first batch of jam in the jars

The finished product: beautiful homemade strawberry jam

• Hanging out on the farm
• Cherry tomato picking
• A meal I’ve been waiting months for
• Dinner at Harley Farms
• Cache Creek Canyon Regional Park

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