Raspberry Pepper Jam

Last fall I bought some Raspberry Pepper Jam at a farmers market. We really enjoyed it with cream cheese on crackers and it was the perfect blend of sweet and hot. My goal this summer was to re-create that jam. Unfortunately I could not find any recipes for it online. I found some related ones and used those to experiment when I made strawberry jam. The strawberry pepper jam was just alright. It wasn't quite hot enough and I didn't like the texture, it was too clear, more like jelly. I made a few changes and think I've hit on a good recipe for Raspberry Pepper Jam.

So here it is.

Raspberry Pepper Jam

Ingredients:

5 cups fresh raspberries
2 jalapeno peppers
1 bell pepper (red or green)
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 package powdered pectin

(Note: Jalapeno peppers vary in strength. Depending on your preference and the strength of the peppers, you may need to add more.)

Directions:

Wash and pick through raspberries. Place one cup in the bottom of a large sauce pan and crush. Add the remaining 4 cups of berries to the pan. In a food processor, chop the jalapenos and bell peppers. Be careful of the jalapeno oils that come out. They made me cough if I accidentally breathed some. Add the chopped peppers to the pan along with the sugar and vinegar.


Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring often. The sugar should dissolve.
Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for 15 minutes until all the berries are broken apart. This concentrates the berry flavor and boils off some of the liquid content. At this point, stir in the powdered pectin. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 1 to 2 minutes.
Ladle into hot 1/2 pint jars and process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Makes about (5) 1/2 pint jars.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

I'm joining on the bandwagon a little late and posting what is blooming today in the garden to join in May Dreams Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Luckily I took some photos earlier in the day.

First, flowers in the vegetable garden:

Green bean flowers
Paste Tomato Flower
Unknown Heirloom Tomato Flower
Buttercup Squash Blossom
Nasturtium
Jalapeno Pepper Blossom
Marigold

Flowers around the yard:

Bee Balm

Unknown
Wild Daisy
Nettle Leaved Bell Flower (thanks to KD for the identification)
Day lily
Pale Pink Lily

Also blooming but not pictured is a wild white yarrow.

Mid July

The garden is lush and green, as is the hedge behind and it can be hard to distinguish the two in the photos. Recent harvests include both heads of broccoli, zucchini, sugar snap peas, and lettuce. We left the second head of broccoli a day or two too long and it wasn't quite as tasty as the first. I can't decide if I'm going to let the broccoli plants sprout side shoots, or if I need to pull them and plant more broccoli or Brussels sprouts in their place.

The paste tomatoes are taller than me (though they do have a head start with the raised bed). The smaller jalapeno pepper has fruited first. The larger one looks as though it will have many more blossoms.

The beginning of a jalapeno.

Green tomatoes. I'm not sure of the variety because I got the seedlings from a friend.

I have one huge beet that needs to be pulled, the rest are still small. I took the photos yesterday, and today I decide to pull the peas. There were just a handful left on the vines and I needed the space to plant for fall. I planted another set of bush beans in their place. I also planted carrots, dill, and beets. I'm a little concerned about how things sprout since they are sometimes or often shaded by larger plants around, especially the beans which are on the other side of the peas.

My buttercup squash is doing well with one vine climbing up the tepee. The first three female blossoms didn't fruit even though I pollinated them with a Q-Tip. The 4th blossom has set and the squash is developing. Some of the very small female blossoms on another part of the vine have yellowed and look like they will drop instead of blooming. The latest female zucchini blossom seems to have browned instead of blooming. I'm wondering what they need. I fertilized with compost tea today. I hope that will help

I transplanted two of my 4 Brussels Sprouts seedlings. The other two will have to wait until there is more room.
I found today as I planned for fall that I don't have enough space as I'd like and that I planted many things that will take the whole summer. The carrots, beets, and dill made it in, but it was between another set of peas or another set of beans and the beans won out. More lettuce or spinach will have to wait until I pull something else and there is a free square. Right now, every single one is full, even ones under the squash tepee. I planted a few carrots there when the squash were small to see what would happen.

Beginning

I'm beginning a new blog here. My purpose it two-fold: to share garden progress (greens) and share craft projects (jeans).

I've transferred some old posts from a xanga site that seem relevant to this blog to provide some background for the road ahead.

Garden Update

The garden is looking lush and full.
Lettuce with Swissh Chard behind, beets, mesclun, peas.
The peas developing and we'll probably eat some next week.
The zucchini is getting huge!
The mystery plant has yet to bloom, it just continues to send out new shoot after new shoot. It's quite a bush now. I'm no longer sure we're going to get anything out of it.
Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts are doing well!
The first head of broccoli is developing. We've been eating the chard a lot already.

Everything is so green and full. It's hard to believe just two months ago how bare it was. I forgot to include pictures of the tomato plants, but they are doing well also, just blossoming. Zucchini and Buttercup squash have put out their first blossoms. I did some research last night on squash blossom recipes because there will be a lot that won't form fruit. (Squash have male and female blossoms).

With waves of heat, summer is here. It's amazing to compare photos now from photos just a few weeks ago. We've been enjoying spinach, mesclun and oak leaf lettuce from the garden, as well as radishes. I've also started getting food from the CSA I joined this year. So we're awash in green vegetables right now.
Here's the Garlic, Broccoli, and Brussels Sprouts.

Lettuce, beets, mesclun, spinach, dill, peas and beans in the background.
Some of the tomatoes have outgrown the walls of water and are in cages now. Peppers are still in the red walls.

Here is my mystery squash which was just about 5 inches tall at the beginning of May and has now reached the top of the tepee. It's survived large ants and striped yellow bugs and continues to send out new vine shoots from almost every leaf junction. We just don't have any idea what it is going to be.
I'm a little worried because I spaced 3 different kind of squash pretty close together in the other bed, and I'm not sure that they are going to vine up the trellis. If they don't I may have to pull them before they flower because their leaves will get too big and short out the electric fence.