My title is a little lofty today but it is the truth. Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to make wild strawberry jam.
When I arrived at the farm this year, I was so thrilled to find pasture after pasture full of wild strawberry blossoms.
It never occurred to me that everything else growing in the pasture would bury my beloved treasures.
When the berries were ripe, Kaitie and I picked for an hour and ended up with only one quart.
After two more attempts, I had enough wild strawberries for one batch of jam.
The jam recipe is from the Certo Pectin package.
I am sincere when I say that it is a dream fulfilled. It’s not really about the jam. For the first time in my 50 years, I am not in a hurry. I was very content to take as much time as was required to fill the eight cups necessary to make the jam. I am finally in a time where I am not being chased by duty.
All of my life, I have felt a sense of duty. A daughter’s duty…a wife’s duty…a mother’s duty. There was never time for me. If my nature was different, I could have easily found a little balance along the way. Sadly, it is my way to approach life like a bee to honey…constantly buzzing.
Nothing has changed except that, I see it now. Because of that clarity, I am pausing. I am trying to forget where the finish line is and focusing on my journey.
It may appear to be just a ‘strawberry jam’ recipe but, for me, it represents something much finer.
Peace.
Thanks for reading.
20 comments
you are my favourite buzzing bee. xo
wonderful Chelle. xo
when can I expect you?
A wonderful story and I’m so very happy for you Chelle
xo I’ll be seeing you soon!
I can’t wait for my jar! But i still loved the jam that you made that the sugar was doubled! It was my Fav! xoxo
you are adorable! If I remember correctly, it was you that needed another kiss good night… bite
The results look fantastic, Michelle! Good things can’t be rushed!
You are so right!
Wild strawberries are my favorite! Love this post Michelle. I’m sure you made the most amazing jam.
Thanks Fran!
So beautiful…
You drive this point home … so beautifully. Well done!
A woman after my heart, but I’m afraid it is taken. Still though, your words of wisdom are powerful. It seems no one takes time to recover Gods bounty, everyone is in a hurry, they’ll pick up a few packages of strawberries at the store and make jam and call it their own. But is it really? It’s my own when I pick the lil buggers for an hour or two, then take the time to pull the stems, only to find I need another 1/2 a cup. But with 6 acres, the 1/2 a cup came rather quick. So now I sit and enjoy a very flavorful toast with WILD strawberry jam and a cup of coffee, black of course.
Ed
My mother passed away in 1996, and the strawberries on my 4 acre patch always reminds me of her. I see her still in the summer sun with a kerchief on. At the end of the day she would return with her pails full of berries. We all waited in anticipation for what came next. The waft in the kitchen air of those simmering berries ready for the jam jars. She would cover the filled jars with paraffin. One day my grown son once told me, “Dad, remember the wax granny would put on the strawberry jars to seal them?. Well, we would sneak in the fridge and push one down a little so we can sneak a teaspoon of jam before bed”. I never admitted it, but I used to do the same.
You haven’t tasted real strawberry jam until you have tasted the true “nectar of the Gods”, wild strawberry jam.
Thank you so much for sharing such a lovely family memory. Great way to start my day…
Thank you for sharing this. Your thoughts on slowing down mirror my life as a father. Having kids has slowed me down, and I can now reacquaint myself with nature and a life lower to the ground. I have been wondering what to do with the wild strawberries that grow so plentifully at my childhood home. I’ll be trying this jam idea soon with my kids.
I would give anything to have my girls little again so that I could slow down and be with them instead of always being in a hurry…Enjoy your kids!
[…] two years ago: wild strawberry jam […]
Picking those tiny little berries took ages so sadly, that was my one and only time.